Massachusetts Golf Cart Laws (2025)

No, not in their stock form. Massachusetts does not allow conventional golf carts on public roads – they can’t be registered, so driving one on the street is illegal. The only way around this is to convert or purchase the vehicle as a federally-compliant Low-Speed Vehicle. If it’s an LSV (with a top speed of 25 mph and all required safety equipment), then it can be registered with the RMV and is street legal on roads with speed limits of 30 mph or below. But a regular golf cart from the course? You cannot just take that on the road in Massachusetts.

For any public road use, absolutely yes – a license is required. If you somehow have a street-legal LSV in Massachusetts, you’d need a regular driver’s license to operate it on public ways. For off-road or private property use (like driving a golf cart around a farm or campus), state law doesn’t mandate a license, but those situations are not “driving on a public way.” Note: Massachusetts does require operators of certain recreational vehicles (like ATVs) to take a safety course if they’re minors, but golf carts typically aren’t addressed in that way since they’re not supposed to be on public land without a license.

Yes. If you have made your golf cart street-legal by registering it as a Low-Speed Vehicle, you are required to have Massachusetts auto insurance (at least the state minimum liability coverage) just like any other car. Even off-road, Massachusetts law actually requires insurance for golf carts: the state mandates that any golf cart used off your own property (and thus registered as a recreation vehicle) must carry liability insurance for injuries or damages. So either way – on-road or off-road – insurance is part of the legal requirements in Massachusetts.

If it’s going to be on a public road as an LSV, yes. Massachusetts adopts federal safety standards for Low-Speed Vehicles, which include seat belts. An LSV (which is basically the only way a golf cart is road-legal) must have seat belts, among many other features. On the other hand, a normal unmodified golf cart (which isn’t legal on roads) doesn’t have to have seat belts for off-road use; however, Massachusetts does require off-road golf carts to have some safety measures like maybe lights at night and such at private campgrounds, but seat belts are not typically part of that. In summary: seat belts are required only if the cart is being treated as a street vehicle (LSV).

Massachusetts limits Low-Speed Vehicles to 25 mph by definition. So a street-legal golf cart (as an LSV) will go 25 mph at most. Also, the law limits them to roads with speed limits of 30 mph or less, so you won’t be driving in faster areas. If a cart goes faster than 25 mph, it wouldn’t qualify as an LSV and thus couldn’t be registered as one – it would have to meet full car standards. Standard golf carts usually top out around 15–20 mph, and those are not allowed on any public road in Massachusetts anyway.

On public roads, you’d have to be at least 16 and have a driver’s license – there’s no special exemption for golf carts. So effectively 16 (the minimum licensing age) is the answer. Massachusetts doesn’t have a separate age rule for off-road golf cart operation the way it does for, say, snowmobiles or ATVs. On private property like golf courses, the age can vary (some courses might let younger teens drive carts with an adult’s permission), but on the streets or any public property, you must have a valid driver’s license.

A true golf cart (as sold for golf courses) cannot be registered with the Massachusetts RMV. The RMV will only register vehicles that meet motor vehicle standards. To get a registration (license plate), your vehicle must have a Certificate of Origin or title that identifies it as a Low-Speed Vehicle or similar. So, if you buy an LSV (often sold by manufacturers like GEM, Club Car’s Villager LSV, etc.), the manufacturer’s paperwork will say it’s an LSV and you can go to the RMV and register it like a car: fill out an RTA form, pay sales tax and registration fees, get a title and plate. If you have a regular golf cart, you can’t do this – the RMV will not issue plates for it. Instead, the only “registration” available for a regular golf cart is with the Mass. Environmental Police as a recreation vehicle (if you plan to use it off your property). That involves filling out an application, paying a fee (residents $40 for two years), and affixing a special decal, but again, that registration does not allow you to drive on public roads.

To be street-legal, it essentially has to be an LSV. That means it needs: a windshield, DOT-approved seat belts in every seat, headlights, tail lights, brake lights, turn signals, mirrors, a horn, and it has to meet all federal motor vehicle safety standards for LSVs (49 CFR 571.500). It also needs a VIN number from the manufacturer. Practically speaking, you’d either buy a vehicle built as an LSV or heavily modify and get it inspected (which is difficult). Once the vehicle meets those standards, you would get it inspected by the police via a Massachusetts RMV Form (if it’s a home-built conversion) and then register it with the RMV. Without all that, a golf cart can’t be made street-legal. And remember, even once it’s street-legal, you can only drive it on roads with ≤30 mph speed limits and it must pass annual safety inspections like any car. In summary: unless it’s brought up to car-like safety specs and registered, a golf cart isn’t allowed on Massachusetts roads at all.