Hundreds of golf carts with tourists zip around the streets of Rome. Know why it is problematic

A bizarre situation is being seen in Italy's Rome. Hundreds of golf carts loaded with tourists are zipping around the city's streets winding up taxi drivers, blocking bus lanes and flummoxing city officials who cannot figure out how to ban them, a report by The Times on Thursday (Oct 10) said.

The report said that this week, the golf carts could be seen driving in convoys up Via del Tritone before vanishing into back alleysand gathering at one of their favoured watering holes, Piazza del Popolo.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

The carts are often favoured by American and British tourists. They are the latest example of over-tourism in Rome.

'It's madness...'

Speaking to The Times, Rome's Transport ChiefEugenio Patane said, "It’s madness — you get eight or nine of them holding up traffic whenthey pull up at the Bocca della Verita (a Roman marble mask)where parking is forbidden."

“We would need a police officer on every corner to stop this,” Patane said.

The report pointed out that despite movingirritatingly slowly on the streets of Rome, these golf carts candodge plans to get rid of them because of a loophole in the law.

What is this legal loophole?

Golf carts are classified as "non-typical vehicles"under Article 59 of Italy’s highway code. As per the article,the golf carts must be registered by their operators at the town hall, which then has 30 days to approve their use.

Rome's Transport Chief Patane told the publication that during these 30 days, the carts were being allowed to operate.

“We have had 33 applications and rejected all but one, but at the end of the 30 days they simply apply again and get another 30 days in which they can operate before being rejected again, and so on. The bureaucracy is perverse and we are asking the transport ministry to adjust the law,” Patane said.

He pointed out that golf carts operated by hotels for their guests weresubjected to another article in the highway code and could not be stopped.

“I would like to have a tender to allow about 100 on the roads, but right now there are 350 to 400 and those are just the ones we know about,” the official further said.

(With inputs from agencies)