Four teenagers were injured when a vehicle collided with a golf cart in Wesley Chapel; two girls were seriously hurt and two boys had minor injuries. Only the two girls with serious injuries were taken to a hospital; the two boys were not. The golf-cart driver attempted a left turn into the path of an oncoming Nissan, and the crash was determined to have resulted from the driver's failure to yield.
According to the Wesley Chapel Community Website, the collision happened Friday, October 9, 2026, at about 8:20 p.m. in the Watergrass community, near Watergrass Parkway and Overpass Road. The report says four teenagers were injured: two girls seriously and two boys with minor injuries. Only the two girls with serious injuries were taken to a hospital; the two boys were not. The golf-cart driver was identified as a 14-year-old Wesley Chapel girl, though her name was not publicly released. The crash was determined to have been caused by the golf-cart driver's failure to yield while turning left into the path of an oncoming Nissan.
The Elam Road crash was a separate incident from the Watergrass crash, occurring months apart.
The Golf-Cart Driver and Other Motorist
FHP's account identified the golf-cart operator as a 14-year-old Wesley Chapel girl, though her name was not publicly released. She was driving east on Overpass Road in a left-turn lane and attempted to turn left onto northbound Watergrass Parkway, entering the path of an oncoming Nissan Maxima. The Nissan was driven by a 38-year-old Wesley Chapel man.
A Recurring Problem on Central Florida Roads
Golf cart crashes resulting in serious injury are not isolated to Wesley Chapel. The Sumter County Sheriff's Office recorded 85 golf cart accidents in just the first six months of 2024, the year it began tracking the incidents, according to WFTV. The station reported that emergency crews across Central Florida have responded to dozens of cases in which riders were thrown from carts, and that golf carts are growing more popular region-wide, from Winter Garden and Celebration to Baldwin Park and Ocoee.
WFTV's reporting also found that in the cases its investigative team reviewed, all of the injured had been life-flighted and faced roughly even odds of survival, and none had been wearing a seat belt. The Sumter County Sheriff's Office told the station that in most, if not all, of the major-injury or fatal golf cart crashes it responds to, the victim was not buckled in.
Similar Crashes Beyond Wesley Chapel
The pattern extends outside Florida as well. In Springfield, Missouri, four 14-year-old boys were injured last month when the golf cart they were riding in was struck and pushed into an oncoming vehicle, according to KY3. That crash happened around 7:30 p.m. on Farm Road 141, about half a mile south of Springfield; three of the teens were hospitalized with moderate injuries, while the fourth was released to his parents. Closer to home, a Pinellas County golf cart crash in May left passengers with non-life-threatening injuries and briefly shut down part of Gulf Boulevard, per WTSP.
What Florida Law Says About Golf Carts on the Road
Under guidance from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, a golf cart is defined as a vehicle incapable of exceeding 20 mph, and it may only be operated on roadways designated for golf carts where the posted speed limit is 30 mph or less. Florida Statute 316.212 further requires that appropriate signage be posted wherever a local government determines golf carts may share the road with regular traffic. The crash was determined to have been caused by the golf-cart driver's failure to yield while turning left into the path of an oncoming Nissan; four teenagers were injured, two seriously and two with minor injuries.
