The golf cart accident that killed John Elway’s agent Jeff Sperbeck over the weekend was a tragic fluke.
But it should serve as a reminder that golf carts can be dangerous if driver and passenger are not careful. As someone who spent eight hours in an emergency room with a broken nose and ripped rotator cuff, I know all about the danger.
Granted, Elway wasn’t driving on the course. According to reports, he was leaving a post-event party at a music festival when Sperbeck fell out and hit his head on the asphalt.
But it doesn’t take a party to make carts dangerous. Less than three years ago, I was thrown from a cart at Mountaire Aire Golf Club in West Jefferson when I applied the breaks (I didn’t slam them) while going downhill, but straight, on a wet fairway, only a few minutes after an afternoon shower.
I really don’t know why the cart skidded out of control, eventually falling on top of me on the ninth fairway. Fortunately my teenaged son, in the passenger seat, was able to step out, and was unhurt.
At the time, I didn’t know which was worse: the embarrassment or the pain.
To add insult to injury, when my son drove me back to the clubhouse, we met a cart attendant unaware of our spill. The young man told us he was headed back out on the course — he had missed us on his first trip — to warn golfers about the danger of the carts on the wet fairways.
I had to have surgery on my rotator cuff, which couldn’t be repaired. Next, came several weeks of therapy.
In case you’re wondering, there was no lawsuit. North Carolina is a contributory negligence state, requiring a plaintiff to be completely blameless.
Believe me, I’m not trying to compare a death to an inconvenient injury. But Sperbeck’s death is a horrible example of potential dangers involving golf carts.
