Dear Blake,
My son and daughter-in-law have a golf cart they allow their 6-year-old son, to drive. I feel that my grandson is too little to control the vehicle. He can barely see above the steering wheel. This is way too large and powerful a vehicle for the little boy. There is a warning on the dashboard stating that a rollover could cause severe injury or death. It tears me up that this is allowed, when I imagine the potential risk that the parents are courting. They assure me that they have taught him how to operate the vehicle safely, but I feel a 6-year-old is not capable or skilled enough to handle an unexpected driving situation. When I speak up, I am met with rolled eyes and a curt reminder to mind my own business. What should I do, if anything?
Signed, Olivette
From Fort Lauderdale, Florida
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Dear Olivette,
I feel your concerns are totally justified. But if you can’t get through to the parents, you must terrify the son into refraining from driving using any method possible. If you can spend an afternoon with him without his parents, try some of these ideas. Go into a store and have someone strip the cart while you two are inside. Tell him that his greedy parents are going to take the money out of his allowance to replace the tires. Or, you can show him some footage of a demolition derby, informing him that’s the way people drive on the roads in real life, and it doesn’t stop until only one driver is alive. This might work too. Have him “cart-jacked” by a group of six year old children, that threaten to pistol whip him with their water guns if he doesn’t give them the keys. And finally, this option. Have him cut off someone in a cart that you believe has road rage. Considering what they will say to him, he may never want to drive one of those buggies again. And to insure that the other person will hurl out words that are extremely vile and vulgar to your grandson, try to find someone driving a cart that’s from NYC or New Jersey. I hope this helps.
Blake