Robert Brown|4-year-old Michigan girl struck and run over by golf cart after fire department's dog lies down on vehicle's gas pedal

With golf carts growing in popularity, many are left wondering if they're street legal

A 4-year-old girl in Michigan was struck and run over by a golf cart after a dog with the local fire department decided to lie down on the vehicle's gas pedal, authorties said Saturday.

Westland Fire & Rescue said on Facebook that firefighters, along with their arson dog, named Bella, were at the town's Blues, Brews, and BBQ event on Friday. Bella was in a golf cart being used for the occasion and plopped down on the floor of the cart, where she landed on the pedal. 

The golf cart lunged forward and firefighters tried to steer it away from people, but before they could stop it, it struck a girl, running over her left leg, officials said.

The child was assessed by firefighters and paramedics, and while she was shaken, she didn't have any obvious injuries. Her mother declined further treatment. 

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRE CHIEF:There was a minor event last night at Blues, Brews, and BBQ in which the fire...

Posted by Westland Fire & Rescue on Saturday, August 5, 2023

"Fortunately, the child was back to eating her popcorn within minutes of the incident and within 10 minutes of the incident was back to jumping in the fire department bounce house," the fire department said. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says the increase in popularity of golf carts has led to more injuries. There were more than 63,000 golf cart related injuries between 2010 and 2019, according to APP, citing data from The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.

Slightly more than half of these injuries happened to children between the ages of 0 and 12, data shows. 

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• Michigan

Caitlin O'Kane

Caitlin O'Kane is a digital content producer covering trending stories for CBS News and its good news brand, The Uplift.