Bixby parents frustrated with golf cart enforcement confusion

BIXBY, Okla. — For families living in the neighborhoods around Bixby East Elementary, using a golf cart to drop off and pick up their kids has long been part of the routine, easing traffic and congestion in the process. But now, those same families say they're caught in a confusing dispute over whether the carts are even allowed.

"We've never had any issues like this before, and it feels like we're being singled out," Ashley Squance, a Bixby East parent said.

The situation changed recently after Oklahoma Highway Patrol told the district it would start patrolling the area for golf carts not approved by city ordinance. The problem for parents is figuring out which ordinance, if any, applies to them.

"I've been given Broken Arrow's ordinances. I've been given Bixby's ordinance. We don't live in Bixby or incorporated Broken Arrow, so we think that we've maybe fallen under the statewide ruling," Tiffany Robison, another Bixby East parent said.

Before the change, families used the carts to bring their children right up to the school.

"We were crossing the crosswalk and then going on school grounds and basically like walking them up to the door," Robison said.

Squance said her family bought a golf cart this year after seeing it become a neighborhood tradition, with the school allowing it.

"It's been a thing for years that we've seen in this neighborhood and our son just started preschool, so we're excited to get it and use it and he's loved it," Squance said.

Both Robison and Squance say they can't seem to get answers about the rules.

"We've reached out to commissioners, even our deputy commissioner, and he's having a hard time getting the same answer from different people as well, so we just are having a hard time getting answers," Squance said.

Bixby Police Officer Levi Ethridge said Bixby East, and the neighborhoods around it, fall into a gray area.

"We as law enforcement do have jurisdictional authority on the campus and surrounding streets, but that doesn't mean that our municipal ordinances fall into those neighborhoods over there," Ethridge said.

Both mothers say golf carts shouldn't be allowed on city streets like 131st, which runs in front of Bixby East. Their concern is that they may get pulled over for driving their golf cart in their own neighborhood.

"Bixby next to us allows it. The school is saying yes. It's helped with safety and congestion in our neighborhood," Squance said.

"I mean, it seems like the most ridiculous problem to have, but I mean it, it's been made a problem now. It wasn't for four years," Robison said.

2 Newa reached out to Oklahoma Highway Patrol but did not hear back. Officer Eldridge said it's not a problem in the areas they're in charge of.

"It is allowed here in the city of Bixby, and as long as you're following those guidelines of that ordinance, we're not going to have any issues," Ethridge said,

Here is the list of requirements for a golf cart to be street legal within the city of Bixby, according to police:

- Must be on a road with a speed limit of 25 MPH or less.
- The low-speed vehicle or golf cart can't go any faster than 20 MPH.
- Must have 4 wheels.
- Can only be operated during daylight hours — sunrise to sunset.
- May cross another highway only at an intersection, crossing perpendicular to that highway, using a crosswalk or an intersection.
- The operator must have a valid driver's license.
- Must have valid insurance on the golf cart.
- Must have seatbelts, with all occupants properly restrained in them.
- Must have the proper equipment, including daytime running lights, brake lights, turn signals
- A rearview mirror
- A horn
- A locking brake
- A visible manufacturer's serial number