Trial date set for Claremore golf cart ticket case


Tuesday, November 18th 2003, 12:00 am
By: News On 6


A disabled man in Claremore will go on trial over a traffic ticket he got while driving a golf cart.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan says it's a no win situation for the court. They'll either uphold a $140 traffic ticket against a man in a golf cart - or set a legal precedent that could allow unsafe vehicles on the road.

The case centers around a disabled man named Gene Young who has not let cerebral palsy stop him. He can barely walk - so he uses a golf cart to get around town - mainly back and forth to his job. He got a ticket for driving the golf cart across Route 66 - one of Claremore's busiest city streets.

Gene Young: “Either this is a free country or it's not, you can't have it both ways. They can't decide you can have certain freedoms and not have others.”

The Rogers County District Court will decide if Mr. Young has the freedom to use his golf cart. He's protesting the ticket and the case goes to trial in December.