(Image Credit: Global BC/File Photo)

By Victor Kaisar

Golf Cart Licensing

Village of Chase considering push for new golf cart-only licence

Feb 2, 2026 | 4:20 PM

CHASE, B.C. — The Village of Chase is debating whether to begin the process that would allow seniors to operate golf carts in the community if they’ve lost the drivers licences for medical reasons.

Mayor David Lepsoe says village council is looking at potentially lobbying the provincial government to create a new golf cart-specific driver’s license for seniors as it would allow them to remain mobile.

“I can name a dozen people who can’t drive a car anymore physically. They’re more than mentally able to drive a golf cart, but they’ve had their driver’s licences pulled,” Lepsoe said. “Maybe ICBC will consider a different clarification of driver’s licence.”

“When you’re aged out of your normal Class 5 licence, this would be a golf cart-only drivers licence and you’re only licensed to drive a golf cart.”

The idea was briefly discussed at a Village of Chase committee meeting in early January. Councillors are expected to revisit that discussion at a meeting Tuesday (Jan. 3), where they will decide whether or not to pursue the idea further.

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“If the committee members wish action to be taken on this item, a recommendation to council is required,” the Feb. 3 Chase Committee of the Whole agenda said.

“I don’t want to lose the program. I don’t want to jeopardize it by asking too much or pushing too much,” Chase CAO Joni Heinrich cautioned. “At the same time, its something that one of our citizens had asked to bring up.”

Dennis Stevens was one of the people who pushed to get golf carts on local streets. He, too, said at the time that golf carts were a safer alternative for seniors.

“It’s much more stable,” Stevens, who passed away last year, said in 2017. “My father used to have a little scooter. You could tip them over. These don’t tip over. They have everything you need. There’s turn signals, brake lights, horns, whatever you need on a car we have on the golf carts.”

Golf carts have been allowed on the streets of Chase since 2017 when the community first joined a two-year pilot program. Lepsoe said there hasn’t been a single accident in Chase involving golf carts in the past nine years.

“We’ve come this far and it might not hurt to just explore extensions,” Lepsoe said. “The biggest one is seniors keeping their cars whereas they just might be happy enough to have a golf cart which is much safer and handier to drive.”

Lepsoe says if the idea moves forward and a new licence is created, all other regulations that allow golf carts to operate in the Village of Chase will remain in effect.