Two years ago last summer, gas prices in the Denver area neared $4 a gallon. They dropped considerably last year, with gas averaging $2.40 a gallon, although they’ve crept back up around $2.60 this summer, according to AAA.

That’s apparently still too much to pay for fuel in Lyons, where an increasing number of golf carts scoot around town after being approved for road use by town officials.

Sheriff’s Sergeant Kevin Parker concedes there have been a few issues—even a couple drunken golf-cart drivers—but overall he supports the concept as energy efficient, a “step in the right direction in reducing the pollution and energy consumption generated by full-size vehicles in town” (via Boulder’s Daily Camera).

He adds, “Every car we can get off the road is an improvement and one less gallon we have to buy from BP.”

The carts, which travel at about 15 miles per hour, are subject to the same rules of the road as regular vehicles.