(a) If a city or county adopts a golf cart transportation plan, it shall do both of the following:

(1) Establish minimum general design criteria for the development, planning, and construction of separated golf cart lanes, including, but not limited to, the design speed of the facility, the space requirements of the golf cart, and roadway design criteria.

(2) In cooperation with the department, establish uniform specifications and symbols for signs, markers, and traffic control devices to control golf cart traffic; to warn of dangerous conditions, obstacles, or hazards; to designate the right-of-way as between golf carts, other vehicles, and bicycles; to state the nature and destination of the golf cart lane; and to warn pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists of the presence of golf cart traffic.

(b) The construction of separated golf cart lanes, as required under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), does not apply in any of the following locations:

(1) A residence district, as defined in Section 515 of the Vehicle Code, located within any city containing a population of less than 50,000 residents with a geographical area of more than 20 square miles in which city there are at least 20 golf courses, if the speed limit in that district is 25 miles per hour or less.

(2) (A) The City of La Verne, on those street and highway segments for which the city council makes a finding that the street or highway segment is suitable to safely permit the use of regular vehicular traffic and also the driving of golf carts, and makes a separate finding that the construction of separated golf cart lanes is infeasible given the physical space limitations of the street or highway segment. In addition, these street or highway segments shall meet all of the following requirements:

(i) Have speed limits of 25 miles per hour or less, as established by an engineering and traffic survey.

(ii) Be immediately adjacent to or surrounded by the campus of a university or a retirement community.

(iii) Provide a route between unconnected portions of the campus of a university or the real property of a retirement community, or provide direct access to an otherwise inaccessible portion of the campus of a university or the real property of a retirement community.

(iv) Be approved for purposes of this paragraph by the law enforcement agency with primary traffic jurisdiction over the street or highway segments.

(v) Accommodate golf carts without adversely impacting traffic safety or the travel needs of commuters and other users, according to a safety determination made by a traffic engineer.

(vi) Be limited to golf carts owned by the university or retirement community and equipped with a windshield, headlights, brake lights, and seatbelts.

(vii) Limit the use of golf carts to employees of the university or retirement community acting within the scope and course of employment for the maintenance or security of the university or the retirement community.

(B) Notwithstanding Section 1951 of this code and Section 345 of the Vehicle Code, for purposes of this paragraph, “golf cart” includes, but is not limited to, a utility style golf cart, used for transporting maintenance equipment, and a shuttle style golf cart.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 101, Sec. 1. (AB 2073) Effective January 1, 2017.)