Safety concern: New Madrid police to enforce 'zero tolerance' on golf carts, ATVs operated on city streets

NEW MADRID, Mo. — Concern over the safety of children operating vehicles on city streets has prompted a change in how the matter will be handled by local police.

New Madrid Police Chief Joey Higgerson said his department was contacted by several citizens regarding children driving golf carts, all-terrain vehicles and utility vehicles on the city’s streets.

“While city ordinance allows a licensed driver who has a city permit to operate these vehicles on the street, no one under the age of 16 is permitted to do so,” Higgerson said in a news release.

According to the police chief, in the past when officers have stopped a vehicle driven by a child under the age of 16, the child was escorted home and the parents were advised of the violation. This has not solved the problem, Higgerson said.

The city police, he advised, will now follow a “zero-tolerance policy.”

The first time the child is stopped, the violation will be referred to the juvenile officer. If the child is stopped a second time, the child’s parent will be issued a citation for allowing an unlicensed driver to operate a motor vehicle, Higgerson said.

Citations will be issued only for the operation of the vehicles on public roadways, not private property.

“Ultimately, parents are responsible for keeping their kids safe and making sure they are following the law,” Higgerson said. “While I don’t like to handle these types of offenses in a formal manner, it is to the point that something must be done; if a child is hurt or killed while operating a golf cart or UTV on city streets, it will weigh on my conscious. With that in mind, the police are going to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.”