Maine Golf Cart Laws (2026)

Only in narrow situations. Maine allows island registration for golf carts/LSVs on qualifying islands with local approval, and it also allows a special registration permit for limited operation of self-propelled golf carts and similar vehicles. Outside those limited paths, ordinary golf carts are not generally street legal on Maine public roads.

It depends on which Maine path applies. For the island registration path, the operator must have a valid driver’s license. For the special registration permit path in § 501(8), the statute says a person at least 15 years old may operate the vehicle and a driver’s license is not required under that subsection. On private property, the property owner can set its own rules.

Maine’s statute about island golf carts doesn’t explicitly mention insurance in the text we have. However, Maine law generally requires motor vehicles that are registered to have liability insurance. If a golf cart is registered (even under the island provision), it’s prudent to insure it. On the mainland, since you can’t register a golf cart for road use at all, the question of insurance only comes up if you choose to get coverage for off-road use or for use on private property. In short: for the rare street-legal (island) golf cart, you likely need insurance (and some towns might explicitly require proof of insurance for the island registration).

No, Maine law doesn’t require seat belts on golf carts. The island-use regulations for golf carts do not list seat belts among the required equipment. Because golf carts aren’t allowed on regular roads, Maine hasn’t imposed the kind of safety requirements on them that you’d see for cars. (Low-speed vehicles, which are a different category, come with seat belts by federal design, but Maine’s allowance is mostly aimed at unmodified golf carts on islands.) So, you won’t find a legal mandate for seat belts in a golf cart in Maine.

By definition, Maine considers a “golf cart” to be a vehicle not capable of exceeding 20 mph. Any cart that goes faster than that would not fit Maine’s definition and likely cannot be used under the golf cart rules. On the authorized islands, carts and low-speed vehicles can only operate on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less, and realistically golf carts are going to be driving around 15–20 mph. If a vehicle can go above 25 mph, it would be considered a Low-Speed Vehicle (and in Maine, those would also only be allowed in the island scenario – Maine doesn’t generally allow LSVs on the mainland either without this special context).

For Maine’s special registration permit path, the operator must be at least 15 years old and does not need a driver’s license under that subsection. For the island registration path, the operator must hold a valid driver’s license. For private-property use, the owner or operator of the property sets the age rule.

Maine has narrow registration options rather than a normal BMV golf-cart plate. For a qualifying island with no state-supported public ways and local approval, the municipality handles the island registration and Maine law sets a small annual fee. Separately, the Secretary of State may issue a special registration permit for limited operation of self-propelled golf carts and similar vehicles. If neither path applies, a standard golf cart is not registered for general public-road use in Maine.

For island registration, the island must qualify, the local governing body must approve, the cart must be registered for that island use, the road must be posted 35 mph or less, and the operator must be licensed. For a special registration permit, the permit terms control the limited operation and the operator must be at least 15. Maine also defines a golf cart as not exceeding 20 mph, so a faster vehicle may fall outside the golf-cart category.