Golf cart driver seriously injured in Highway 168 crash, Fresno County

A golf cart rolling westbound on Highway 168 after dark was hit from behind by a Mercedes near Shepherd Avenue and Academy Avenue, leaving the driver seriously injured and thrown from the cart around 8 p.m. Wednesday night in Fresno County.

The crash stands out because the vehicle should not have been on a state highway in ordinary circumstances. California Vehicle Code section 21716 generally bars golf carts from highways, while section 21115 allows local authorities to designate only specific combined-use routes for golf carts and regular traffic under set conditions. The California Department of Motor Vehicles says a golf cart without a compliance label is limited to off-highway registration, which makes the scene on Highway 168 a stark example of what can happen when a low-speed vehicle ends up where high-speed traffic is expected.

According to the California Highway Patrol account, the golf cart had no lights on when the Mercedes, also traveling westbound, came up behind it and did not see it in time. That detail matters because the cart was not just moving slowly, it was nearly invisible in a corridor built for faster traffic, longer stopping distances and larger vehicles with far more mass. In a crash like this, the gap between a routine drive and a life-altering trauma can be measured in seconds.

The driver was ejected and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. CHP had not determined whether drugs or alcohol were factors in the collision. Even without that answer, the case already points to a familiar public safety failure: a roadway, a vehicle and a time of day that did not match, with visibility acting as the critical weak point.

Highway 168 has already seen other serious wrecks in Fresno County, including a fatal wrong-way collision in March 2025. Wednesday night’s crash adds another example of how dangerous the corridor can be, especially when nighttime travel, speed differences and poor visibility collide on a road that is not meant for golf carts unless local rules specifically say otherwise.