Golf carts are everywhere in our beach towns — but what’s actually street-legal, and where?

🛒 Golf carts are everywhere in our beach towns — but what’s actually street-legal, and where?

A new feature walks through the low-speed vehicle rules, and the distinction matters: under North Carolina law, a registered low-speed vehicle — with the required equipment, registration, insurance, and a licensed driver — can run on roads posted 35 mph or less. An ordinary unregistered golf cart is not a street-legal LSV.

Oak Island just set a new 35 mph limit effective Oct. 20 on East Oak Island Drive between East 19th and East 38th Streets — and LSVs are still prohibited there. Other beach towns are taking different approaches: Panama City Beach has restrictions, Kiawah Island reaffirmed its ban in 2026, and Bluffton set new rules in January 2026 covering seat belts, licensed drivers, registration, insurance, and roadway restrictions.

It’s the same question facing our Brunswick beach towns: how do you keep the carts rolling safely without letting them take over the road?