TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Visit Davis Islands in Tampa and you will see people puttering all over the place, on golf carts. Odd thing is, they are illegal on public roads. That could soon change on the island. 

Neighbors are circulating a petition to designate the island a “golf cart community.”

They’re hoping city council votes to make golf carts legal.

For the most part, Tampa police look the other way when they see them.

Harold Moore is the driving force behind a plan to make them legal.

“We have too many speeders, so I think that this can be used as a traffic calming device,” said Moore.

He sees a number of benefits.

“We’re so laid back. I’ve lived here 39 years and I bought this cart about two months ago and the first tour that we took around the island, I said, ‘there are things that I’ve never noticed before,’” said Moore.

Making the island a golf cart community would relax some of the rules about required equipment.

“You don’t want underage kids driving the golf carts, but other than that, I don’t know why it’s such a big deal,” said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.

He lives on Davis Islands and has a golf cart.

“You don’t want these golf carts on Bayshore or Dale Mabry or the interstate, but certainly on the back roads of Davis Islands, it’s an easy way to move around and a lot of people do it,” said Buckhorn.

They’re quiet, don’t pollute, are cheaper than a car and make parking easier near island businesses.

“People have a tendency to be friendlier. They wave at one another. It just really adds to the ambiance of living here,” said Moore.

A recent survey shows island residents favor them

“There are a lot of people on the island that like their golf carts, that bought them specifically to use them on Davis Islands,” said Mayor Buckhorn.

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