A Missouri police chief, Rickey Jones, this week surprised a drug dealer in the middle of a deal. The really surprising part was how Jones arrived at the scene: Rather than screeching to a halt in a squad car, he approached, almost silently, in an electric golf cart.
“There’s no engine, no loud motor, so he didn’t hear us coming,” he said.
When the suspect sped away in a car, Jones couldn’t give chase — the cart struggled to go faster than 30kph. Instead, he radioed a colleague in a more traditional police vehicle, who intercepted the fleeing car some distance away.
Before long, the open-sided, canvas-covered carts may be less of a surprise on the streets, such as those of Pine Lawn, Missouri, a working-class suburb of St Louis. Under pressure from rising fuel prices, towns across the US are passing bylaws to permit the use of golf carts on their streets as an alternative to cars, not just as a crime-fighting tool but for ordinary citizens.
“You can definitely save on gas — my cart’s electric, but even the ones that run on gas hardly use any of it,” said Paul Heideman, mayor of Ashkum, a town in rural Illinois.
Numerous other towns in Illinois, Indiana and North Carolina have implemented similar regulations or are considering them. And in several places where the carts are an increasingly common sight, another benefit is becoming clear. With no windows or doors to separate drivers from each other, or from pedestrians, the texture of daily life is changing.
“It leads to a friendlier atmosphere,” Heideman said.
A few hours away in the small town of Cerro Gordo, golf carts will become lawful street vehicles from today, thanks in part to the campaigning efforts of Shamarie Allen and her husband, who run a golf-cart customization business. Golf carts have a serious image problem, however, as many people associate them with old age and pensioners.
But with the help of Allen’s company, LG Custom Carts, carts can be kitted out with chrome wheels, leather seats and high-end gadgetry — an effect slightly marred by the legal requirement to display a sign declaring that the cart is a slow-moving vehicle.
Despite the potential for savings on fuel, the carts may not be an ideal solution for those worst hit by the current economic downturn. A basic vehicle costs around US$2,000. And the danger of injury or death, especially in the event of a collision with a car or truck, is high.
Despite its limitations, though, Jones said they had transformed the job of policing Pine Lawn.
“Now people can talk to [the officers] more easily,” he said.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across
RSS