Disqualified driver in court driving a golf cart

MARK DWYER/Taranaki Daily News

STICK TO PEDAL POWER: Quintin Loveridge, of Waitara, is staying away from anything with a motor attached to it after being prosecuted for driving his mate's modified golf cart while suspended.

A disqualified driver has learnt the hard way that his driving ban applies to golf carts as well.

Spray painter Quintin Loveridge was having a bit of fun in a golf cart on the grass verge beside State Highway 3, Bell Block on December 14.

Unfortunately for Loveridge, a passing police patrol checked out his driving licence and discovered that it had been suspended for three months because he had clocked up 100 demerit points within a two-year period.

Loveridge told police he was unaware that a golf cart constituted a motor vehicle, or that the grass verge was deemed to be a road-way.

But police knew better, and with that, Loveridge was charged with driving while suspended.

Yesterday, Loveridge told the Taranaki Daily News that he had been disappointed when he wasn't let off with a warning.

"I didn't realise it [the grass verge] was classed as a road. I thought I was going to get off."

The experience had been a painful one. All up, he estimates it has cost him $1500.

His message?

"Be aware you can drive nothing with a motor. Stick to the pedals," he advises.

In the New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday, Loveridge's lawyer Patrick Mooney conceded his client had broken the law but asked for leniency considering the circumstances and the very slow speeds that the two would have been travelling.

A golf cart's maximum speed is about 10kmh.

With that, Judge Allan Roberts convicted Loveridge, but took into account the special circumstances and reduced the six-month mandatory driving disqualification for the offence to three months.

"The only safe rule is not to drive anything," Judge Roberts said.

- © Fairfax NZ News