South Carolina Golf Cart Laws: Permits, Roads, and Penalties

South Carolina golf cart laws require a Department of Motor Vehicles permit, liability insurance, and a valid driver’s license before you can operate a cart on any public road, and they cap where you can drive it at roads posted 35 mph or less. The state rewrote these rules in 2025, replacing the old Section 56-2-105 with a new Section 56-2-90 that keeps statewide minimums while letting cities and counties expand or tighten the details.

What You Need Before Driving

Three things are non-negotiable: a permit decal, insurance, and a license.

The DMV issues the permit when you submit proof of ownership, proof of liability insurance, your driver’s license number, and a $5 fee. You get a decal to affix to the cart and a registration certificate to carry with you.¹² Golf carts do not get a license plate. The decal must be replaced every five years, or sooner if you change your address. If you sell the cart, the buyer has to register it from scratch.

Your liability coverage must meet the minimums in Section 38-77-140: at least $25,000 for bodily injury to one person, $50,000 when two or more people are hurt in a single accident, and $25,000 for property damage.³ Proof of coverage travels with you whenever you drive.¹

The driver must be at least 16 and hold a valid license, physically in hand while operating the cart.¹ A suspended, revoked, or expired license disqualifies you the same way it would in a car.

Where You Can Drive

The statewide ceiling is a posted speed limit of 35 mph or less. No local government can raise that.¹ You can cross through an intersection where the posted limit is higher, so long as you’re crossing rather than traveling along that road.

If your city or county has not passed its own golf cart ordinance, tighter default rules apply. You’re limited to secondary highways posted 35 mph or less, and you have to stay within four miles of the address on your registration certificate. For gated communities, the four miles is measured from the entrance or exit.¹

Local governments can adjust the hours, methods, and routes within their borders, still capped at 35 mph. They can also designate dedicated golf cart paths along the shoulders of primary or secondary highways, provided the path is separated from traffic by a concrete curb, a row of parking spaces, or at least four feet of distance.¹ Beach towns and retirement communities are the most likely places to have expanded the defaults, so check with the local government before you assume the state rules are all that apply.⁴

One protection for visitors and renters: a local government cannot require you to prove property ownership or a long-term rental to get a permit for its jurisdiction.¹

When You Can Drive

The default is daylight only. A city or county can authorize nighttime operation by ordinance, but only if the cart has working headlights and taillights and stays on roads posted 35 mph or less.¹ Without that ordinance in your area, after-dark driving is a violation no matter how well-lit your cart is.

Passenger and Safety Rules

Every passenger under 12 must wear a fastened safety belt whenever the cart is on a public road.¹ If your cart has no belts installed, you cannot legally carry young children on public streets. Many owners add aftermarket lap belts for exactly this reason.

DUI and Penalties

South Carolina treats a golf cart as a motor vehicle, so every traffic law that applies to a car applies to the cart, DUI included. A first-offense DUI carries a fine of at least $400 and a minimum of 48 hours in jail or public service, with steeper penalties at higher blood alcohol concentrations.⁵

Driving without a permit, without insurance, beyond the four-mile boundary, or after dark where no ordinance allows it are all violations, generally treated as misdemeanors. Negligent operation that causes a wreck can also expose you to civil liability for injuries and property damage on top of any criminal penalty. Enforcement is real, particularly in coastal and resort towns where carts are common.

Golf Carts Are Not Low-Speed Vehicles

A common mistake is assuming you can retrofit a golf cart into something with fewer restrictions. You cannot. A low-speed vehicle is a distinct category: a four-wheeled vehicle capable of 20 to 25 mph that meets federal safety standards under FMVSS 500, which requires headlights, taillights, turn signals, mirrors, a windshield, a parking brake, and seat belts. Low-speed vehicles are titled, registered, and plated like passenger cars, and they have no mileage restriction.⁶

South Carolina will not issue a vehicle identification number to a homemade low-speed vehicle, a retrofitted golf cart, or any similar conversion. Bolting on lights and mirrors does not reclassify your cart or free it from the four-mile limit.⁶

Keep your registration certificate, insurance card, and driver’s license on you every time you drive. It takes about 30 seconds and eliminates the most common reasons for citations.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 56 Chapter 2 – Specialized Vehicles – Section 56-2-90
2
South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles. Golf Carts
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 38-77-140 – Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability Insurance
4
SCDPS. Golf Cart Law
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 56-5-2930 – Operating Motor Vehicle While Under Influence of Alcohol or Drugs
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 56 Chapter 2 – Specialized Vehicles – Section 56-2-120