One of the deadliest roads in Spokane County is getting some needed attention.

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office last week announced that it will be launching an enforcement campaign on Monroe Road, which runs for 11 miles from Half Moon Prairie to the west side of Deer Park.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has made grant funding available for the extra enforcement.

The sheriff’s office is teaming up with the county engineer’s office and the Spokane County Target Zero Task Force. Target Zero is a program to end all traffic fatalities.

Deputy Craig Chamberlin, spokesman for the sheriff, said Monroe Road has seen five fatalities and 18 serious injury accidents in the past four years.

Three fatal accidents over a six-month period in 2009 claimed the lives of a motorcycle driver, a teenage girl and a 19-year-old man.

“Speed is the major contributing factor” in the accidents, Chamberlin said.

The 19-year-old was going an estimated 70 mph when he lost control of his vehicle entering a curve, according to news files.

The speed limit is 45 mph.

The grant funding will pay for extra patrols in the designated safety project corridor starting in coming days and continuing for one year.

In addition, the county engineer’s office has finished a series of road improvements, including enhanced signage “with higher retro-reflective sheeting” at curves, Chamberlin said.

In addition, new outer-edge striping has been laid down. Shoulder areas were improved as a safety measure, and rocks and trees were removed alongside the roadway. New guardrails went up.

“Slow Down and Stay Safe” signs are being installed along the route.

Similar safety projects have been undertaken over the years on the region’s highways, including U.S. Highway 2 through Airway Heights and cities to the west.

Golf cart zone proposed (golf cart motors for sale)

In addition, electric motor golf cart (s) may soon become a preferred mode of transportation in northeast Spokane.

The Spokane City Council tonight is considering an ordinance to establish an electric motor golf cart zone in that part of town.

A 2009 state law allows cities to designate electric motor golf cart zones on streets with speed limits of 25 mph or less.

The measure was developed at the request of the Greater Hillyard Neighborhood Planning Alliance.

“One of their strategies was improving mobility for residents,” said Councilwoman Amber Waldref, who is sponsoring the measure.

Residents who want to drive carts with an electric golf cart motor on city streets won’t need a license, but they will have to register with the city for a $50 annual fee and provide an affidavit of insurance coverage through a homeowner’s or other policy. Drivers also must be at least 16 and have driving experience or have taken a driver education class.

Safety equipment such as mirrors is required, as are lights for nighttime travel when using an electric motor golf cart.

Hillyard proponents of the measure asked that the zone be limited to electric motor golf cart s only, Waldref said.

The golf cart electric motors are allowed to cross arterials, but they cannot be driven on arterials where speeds are higher than 25 mph.

The fee will pay the cost of posting signs in the designated zone, which will be bounded by Francis Avenue on the north, the city limits to the east, Euclid Avenue and North Foothills Drive to the south and Nevada Street to the west.    MSD (used golf cart motor)

The Spokane City Council has approved the use of electric motor golf cart s on streets in the Hillyard neighborhood in northeast Spokane.

The measure approved Monday allows the electric golf car motor carts on residential streets where the speed limit is 25 mph or lower.

The Spokesman-Review reports ( https://is.gd/1asKcj) drivers of the carts with golf cart electric motors are required to register with the city, pay a $50 annual fee and carry liability insurance.     MSD

In 1986, shortly after Bob Timm first joined the Napa Valley Country Club, his electric golf car motor cart had to go in for repairs. The repairs dragged on for a few weeks, so the cart shop assigned Timm a golf cart dc motor cart loaner. However, a couple of days later, to his embarrassment, when he took a client out to the course to play, Timm found himself without a cart yet again — the golf cart dc motor cart loaner had been sold.

Formerly in the car repair and service business, “I decided that I had to do something,” Timm said. Taking matters into his own hands, he bought a used electric golf car motor cart from E-Z-GO, a cart manufacturer owned by Textron, tore it down and completely rebuilt and repainted it with special electric golf cart parts. The new cart, painted in his own choice of colors, looked and ran better than any electric golf car motor cart at the club, Timm said.

Timm wasn’t the only one admiring his work. His golfing buddies were so impressed with Timm’s electric golf car motor cart they said they wanted their electric golf car motor carts customized as well. “Everyone wanted one with the special electric golf cart parts like it,” Timm said.

This prompted Timm to get serious about the business, becoming an E-Z-GO dealer. “We built and sold eight electric golf car motor carts that year,” Timm said.

Twenty-five years later, Timm and his son, Gus Timm, own and run A&T Custom Golf Cars and Equipment, a thriving business customizing, selling and servicing electric golf cars with special electric golf cart parts, as they are called now.

These days, golfers and golf courses still buy electric golf car motor carts with special electric golf cart parts, but owners or managers of large properties, hotels, wineries and anyone else looking for a means of transportation without a tailpipe, and thus without tailpipe emissions, have surpassed golfers as buyers and users of these inexpensive, zero-emission vehicles with special electric golf cart parts.

Today’s electric vehicle is far different from those sold 25 years ago. There are no brakes; regenerative braking is done by the motor, which captures a lot of the energy lost by normal braking, resulting in a 30 percent increase in efficiency, experts said. In 1986, electric cars went 10 to 12 miles per hour. Today, electric golf cars go up to 30 mph, meaning that many models can be street-legal, dealers say. (golf cart parts)

Street-legal electric cars, called Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) or Low-Speed Vehicles (LSVs) are classified as zero-emission vehicles by the California Air Resources Board and potentially eligible for a 10 percent state rebate, reducing the normal $8,000 to $10,000 price tag. Electric vehicles used in agriculture potentially qualify for a 25 percent rebate from the California Air Resources Board.

The father-and-son team at A&T Custom Golf Cars and Equipment used to sell about 150 electric golf cart dc motor cars in a good year, but volume fell off with the slowdown in the economy, they said.

“We are pleased to see an increase in the last year or so, partly because of an upturn in the economy,” Gus Timm said. “But more importantly, we are able to offer cutting-edge technology and a wider product range that answers the needs of wineries and other businesses that are looking for green solutions to their transportation needs. Previous customers are upgrading to the newer, more innovative technology as well.” He added that manufacturers are also offering attractive retail financing to help dealers, which is also boosting sales.

Gus Timm said most of their sales today involve some golf car parts customizing, which has subjected them to some friendly ribbing from customers about the word “custom” in the business name. So the Timms decided to build a showpiece. They stripped a cart down to the bare frame, put on bigger wheels, a high-torque golf cart dc motor and a high end stereo and gave it to their body shop with free rein to use the shop’s creative skills to produce something different. They came up with a four-wheel drive look sporting a $2,000 Lamborghini yellow paint job.

“It cost as much as a compact car, but we lent it for parades and charity events such as Relay for Life,” Gus Timm said.

The Timms also built a custom cart with special electric golf cart parts that, from the front, looked like a smaller version of the customer’s Mercedes SUV.

The most common options and customizing on today’s carts with golf cart electric motors are a weather enclosure, a cooler kit for beverages, sand and seed bottles (to fix divots) and custom wheels.

Less commonly, because of the cost, they will convert from a DC to AC motor. A golf cart dc motor can be set up to maximize either torque or speed but not both, while an AC motor can give the user both a good top speed and the power needed for hills or heavy loads. However, due to cost of the whole AC system, most people will not pay 50% more for only a 8-10% enhancement in performance versus a Separately Excited golf cart dc motor system.

Envisioning the future, Bob Timm said that they are seeing electric golf cars with special electric golf cart parts used as an alternative means of weekend transportation for local errands and short trips. “Much cheaper than a hybrid car, emission-free and silent,” he said.

Gus Timm added they want to still be selling them in 25 years.

“We aim to be the primary electric motor golf cart distributor in the North Bay,” he said. (Golf Cart Parts)  MSD

-- Safety. Dennis Smith, the retired golfer in The Villages, says this is really the key. "Everybody should be concerned about their safety," he said.

-- If pathways are needed, how would they be constructed and how much would they cost?

-- How would this affect future development?

-- What developments would support golf car motor cart access?

-- What are the requirements for street legal carts with an electric golf car motor?

After an initial assessment, if the commission chooses, the city would look to hire a transportation engineer to do a formal study.

Herman Schultz, manager of Tomlin USA, a golf cart vendor on U.S. Highway 301 just outside Wildwood, said if he were a Wildwood city official, he'd mostly be concerned for the safety of the golf car motor carts and their operators. For example, The Villages has many paths designated for electric golf cart motor carts, and Wildwood should consider building the same types of paths, Schultz said.

"You have to have a designated path," he said.

Wherever the city of Wildwood looks for advice on golf car motors carts, one place to start might the town of Lady Lake. In 1989, the notion first came up for people to get around Lady Lake's portion of The Villages, said police Chief Ed Nathanson.

For years, the Lady Lake portion of The Villages has allowed golf car motors carts. A few subdivisions in Lady Lake that are not part of The Villages also allow electric golf car motor drivers, Nathanson said.

In Lady Lake, people can drive both new and used golf cart motor carts 24/7, but to drive at night, they need headlights and brake lights, and preferably, some sort of reflectors, Nathanson said.

Lady Lake has experienced very few major problems with golf car motor drivers sharing roads with other motorists, the chief said. In about 20 years, Nathanson said he's worked one fatal accident involving a golf cart driver.

The town regularly conducts courses on how golf car motor cart operators can drive safely with other motorists.

"As long as people make safe choices," they'll be OK, Nathanson said.    MSD

ASHLAND, Ore. — Electric all-terrain vehicles may not impress the dune- and trail-riding crowd that rides for recreation, but a few small companies expect organic farmers and vineyard growers will pay a premium to gather cattle and spray vines without the carbon footprint of a gas vehicle.

While automakers are toiling to produce electric cars that will fit the demands of American drivers, Ashland-based Barefoot Motors is on the verge of turning out heavy-duty ATVs that can go 50 miles on a charge costing about 90 cents.

"I think a lot of attention is focused on the more glamorous vehicles -- the cars," said Chief Executive Max Scheder-Bieschin. "But there are lots of other applications where the strength of the technology can be focused."

Debby Zygielbaum, vineyard manager at organic Robert Sinskey Vineyards in Napa, Calif., test-drove an early Barefoot prototype last year and is eager to be an early adopter when production starts in June. She'd like to haul her spraying equipment without fogging the vines with exhaust fumes, and the ATV could get free power from the vineyard's solar panels.

"It's becoming feasible where it will actually become a working vehicle to use in the field," she said.

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Dozens of communities across the US have recently passed ordinances allowing golf carts to share the road with cars. The electric powered carts are turning into a viable transportation alternative for people feeling the strain of expensive gasoline.  A few communities around the country have even created dedicated cart lanes. With top speeds of approximately 20 mph and a very informal safety system, these tiny vehicles are only appropriate on roads with lower speed limits. New laws are going to have to be put in place to deal with safety concerns as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does not yet recognize golf carts as on-road vehicles.

USA Today: “More Golf Carts Leaving The Greens”

When reader W.T. Stonehill passed along news about a new article in The Economist concerning 3-4 million "souped up" golf carts hitting the roads and off-roads in the US, we, like him, we're pretty excited -- perhaps it was another sign that the electric car hadn't yet been killed. Apparently, since 1996, a large number of DIYers have been buying up old golf carts and modifying both the engines and bodies to turn them into "mini- Hummers." This would be great, except for one fact that the article buries at the end: "Most golf carts are electric and clean. But the souped-up ones have petrol engines and are fast."

While we won't go deeply into the Freudian implications of one golf cart modifier's claim that his raised, 36-bolt electric golf cart "makes me feel like a man,” we'd love to hear about tinkerers that are keeping their carts clean and green while exercising their mechanical prowess and creativity. The golf cart is a great model for short-distance electric transportation, and we'll bet that they can be souped up while still running on batteries. ::The Economist