NOCATEE, Fla. – A 64-year-old St. Johns County man is facing DUI charges in connection with a golf cart crash that fatally injured his wife, according to an arrest report obtained by News4JAX.
The crash was reported around 10:45 p.m. on Nov. 30 at Recollection Drive and Dawes Avenue in Nocatee. Neighbors say speeding and unsafe golf cart use have become a growing problem in that area.
The woman, who was in her 50s, was a passenger on the golf cart, which was being driven by her husband. She fell off the cart and hit her head on the ground.
She was airlifted to a local hospital in critical condition but later died.
“We woke up to all the lights out here, came outside, saw that, in fact, she was already loaded in the ambulance, I think, by the time we got out here. But her husband was out here, and the police were talking to him,” said one area resident named Barnes. “The golf cart was all the way down by the mailboxes. So I think that she must have fallen out. He kept going for a little bit. That’s where the golf cart stopped.”
The woman’s husband was charged with DUI and refusal to submit to DUI testing.
According to his arrest report, the driver had bloodshot and watery eyes and the smell of alcohol was detected on him from 3 feet away in an open area.
Neighbors we spoke with said the couple might have been coming off a nature trail before crashing. It’s a popular cut-through for families, runners and golf carts heading to the Nocatee Town Center.
One local resident shared a photo, saying that Nocatee recently painted a temporary stop near a golf cart path.
But many say safety has been a concern since the path opened.
“It’s just very unsafe because the golf carts go really fast. And you see a lot of young people too, that, you know, they probably don’t even have the age to be driving a golf cart, and, you know, then the golf cart is going really fast. So it’s a concern,” neighbor Yariela Farkas said.
Barnes said the issue is the drivers.
“They don’t slow down; they don’t stop. Nobody treats that stop sign like it’s an actual stop sign. Just blow right through it,” Barnes said.
During avisit to NextGen Carts to talk safety, owner Warren Noon shared the same thing he tells his customers:
“Treat these exactly like your own automobile and follow the rules of the community.”
Neighbors said they just want drivers to be more mindful and take safety seriously so no one else ends up hurt.
The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Unit is handling the ongoing investigation into the deadly golf cart crash.
It’s unclear if the driver’s charges will be upgraded after his wife’s death. News4JAX is not naming him because he is currently charged with misdemeanors.