She parked with a breakdown, ten minutes later came the crash

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A San Pedro Town woman who safely pulled her malfunctioning golf cart to the roadside watched another cart plough into her stationary vehicle ten minutes later, overturning in the process, and the other driver, a 66-year-old American retiree, has now been formally charged with driving without due care and attention and failing to provide a specimen.

According to the Belize Police Department, officers received a report of a road traffic incident on Pedro Salazar Drive in San Pedro Town at approximately 6:54 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. At the scene, they found two golf carts: a lime green cart parked on the left side of the road with no visible damage, and a black cart with damage to its front bar frame and a broken windshield.

Preliminary investigations indicate the lime green cart was operated by a 35-year-old labourer of the DFC Area. She reported that the vehicle experienced a mechanical failure while in motion, and that she successfully pulled over and parked on the left side of the road. Approximately ten minutes later, she observed a black golf cart approaching from the opposite direction, which collided with the front passenger side of her stationary vehicle, causing its driver to lose control and overturn.

The driver of the black cart identified himself to police as John Talley, a 66-year-old American retiree residing in San Pedro Town. While he was identifying himself, the officer observed that his eyes were glossy, noted a strong aroma of alcohol on his breath, and observed unsteady balance and slurred speech. Talley was informed of the offences of driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drinks or drugs and driving without due care and attention, cautioned, informed of his constitutional rights, and escorted to the San Pedro Police Station.

At the station, he was served acknowledgement forms, which he read and signed, and was issued a medico-legal form for abrasions to both knees sustained in the overturn, injuries a doctor certified as wounding. A statement was recorded from the woman, who wants the damages to her golf cart repaired.

On Wednesday, August 5, police formally arrested and charged Talley with driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention and failing to provide a specimen. The specimen charge, an offence in its own right under Belizean law, arises where a driver lawfully required to provide a blood or urine sample fails to do so without reasonable cause, and it marks the second such charge laid in the country within a week, following a similar case in Orange Walk.

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