AUSTIN – Bad news for families that love to get around on golf carts. Attorney General Ken Paxton has opined that the Transportation Code prohibits operation of motor vehicles on public streets without a driver’s license.
Back in September, officials for Montgomery County requested an AG opinion on whether a person must possess a driver’s license to lawfully operate a golf cart on a public street.
“If a driver’s license is not required when operating a golf cart upon a public street, children would be permitted to drive them on busy streets – a situation which a police spokesman described as ‘extremely dangerous,’” the request states.
On April 5, Paxton issued his opinion, finding that Section 521.021 of the Transportation Code prohibits a person, unless expressly exempted, from operating a motor vehicle on a publicly maintained way any part of which is open to the public for vehicular travel unless the person holds a driver’s license.
Opinion KP-0364