Gate Strikes
 

According to today's rag (page C4), there were 130 gate strikes in January.

Is this a prediction, or very late reporting?

Probably a typo. Maybe they meant to say since January?

Perhaps someone needs to set up a database that tracks gate strikes on a monthly basis and set up an over/under line to give people another thing to gamble on? The caveat being that you automatically lose your wager if you strike a gate.

and your point,with this thead

I still can't fathom why people hit the gate arms. If you have only lived in TV for a week you know there are gate arms at the entrances to the individual villages. Maybe these drivers need to be reported to the state motor vehicle department to be called in for testing of their vision, physical and mental ability to drive a car. Maybe the next time instead of a gate arm it might be a pedestrian.

I'd bet a lot of those 'strikes' are a result of the next car in line who opts to try to get thru the gate on the tail of the car in front rather than wait for that gate to close and then open again for that next car! And other 'strikes' might be from worker vehicles with a trailer in tow where the gate goes down after the truck passes thru but then is struck by the trailer or something on it.

LOL. I like that idea! :coolsmiley:

I can understand it IF a commercial vehicle with a trailer busts the gate. However, when the gate strikes the impatient folks that attempt to slip past along with someone that opened the gate and it hits the gate, then I sincerely hope that it causes enough damage to the vehicle to make them think twice about doing it again. Had a beat up old car sneak in behind me just this week. For crying out loud, push the da*n red button if you don't have a card. How hard is that?

I have noticed that depending on lighting conditions and the background that gate arms can be hard to see. I would like the villages to try an experiment, take the top 5 or 6 locations for gate strikes, and paint these arms bright yellow or orange, and then see if the number of strikes drops.

Mrs Fox has great difficulty seeing the arms at dusk and a brighter color would certainly be of benefit to her.

:ohdear: Does she have great difficulty seeing pedestrians at dusk as well? How about golf carts, bikes or visiting Grandchildren? :shrug:

Maybe, if the carts didn't have their lights on and the cyclists and grandchildren weren't wearing something light and preferably reflective.

That is why we do those things, and that is why VillageTinker's suggestion to make the gate arms more visible is a good one.

That's a good idea. The other problem is that the exit gates don't all open at the same time. A perfect example is the exit gate at Cazaras Avenue onto El Camino Real. This gate doesn't open until a car is practically on top of it. If folks are used to approaching a gate at 5 mph and having it open when they reach it, they are in for a surprise at some gates.

It really shouldn't be that difficult to set them up so that you have a similar experience at all gates. Why set traps for people?

.......and as a very 'helpful' poster pointed out on a previous thread about gates, the things often move to another location without warning :icon_wink:

When a car stops at the gate to wave their card the gate arm can't be more than 8 feet in front of the car's windshield. If a driver can't see a gate bar at 8 feet they have absolutely no business operating a motor vehcile.

I agree with a previous poster that contractor vehicles do hit the gates frequently. I have also been tailgated through the gate a couple times but now I creep through the gate so the car following can't make it through without being hit by the bar.

But if they haven't seen the arm, they wouldn't know the gate was there, so why would they be stopping?

Many gates are staggered, such that the entrance gate is not always alongside the exit gate.

Bright sun can cause a gate strike, especially if it’s not your regular route. I Almost got a gate when we first moved here. The sun was so bright, I couldn’t see the gate. I stopped in time, but car after me ran into it

There is a big, usually white metal box, on the left side of the entrance just before the gate arm where you have to wave your card or push the red button. Also, there are big signs at the entrance telling you the name of the village you are entering. How do you miss that? There is a gate at the entrances to the different villages so how do you forget that?

We went to the golf cart safety course and we were told that on average there are 2500 gate strikes per year.

so when you accidentally crash through the gate what next? I know you are on video. do you stay there? call community watch? the person behind you is watching you also. or if you are drunk, head home and blame the wife? if you call community watch, they may rat you out for boozing. such a decision......

Not true at egress gates which are hit more frequently.

I agree, the one by my house is hard to see early in the morning when the sun is directly in my eyes. Sometimes the gate arms are left up which makes an interesting guessing game-will it or won't it go down?

Awesome! I love it! There are cameras there so we could also wager on the make of vehicle that had the most whacks

Head lights work real well for seeing at night. All the gates that I have passed through have reflective tape on them, which glows when hit by headlights.

Flashing lights on the gate arms and a loud speaker on the post that says YOU MAY ENTER NOW:)

How about try changing a few of the arms that seem to be destroyed more than most to a flat bar instead of the tube type used and change the colors and give it a test run.

Just for the record, neither I nor Mrs Fox have ever hit a gate arm, so there's no need to get excited and rude, Number 10, just read my posts more carefully.

All I said was that Mrs Fox finds some gate arms hard to see at dusk.

As an earlier poster pointed out, it is the exit gates that are more often damaged as there is no other "hardware" there. No white box; no "Thank you for visiting the Village of Dreams" sign.

Yes, it is VERY difficult to see the front gate announcing the village name, the white building in the middle of the entrance and the activator box in front of the long arm of the gate. The gate arm that has reflective tape on it that shines when hit with headlights.
If you hit the gate, you need to reevaluate whether you should be operating a dangerous motor vehicle. Do you also hit your garage door, or do you park on the street?

Does the Daily Sun recycle articles?
 

I think I read this very article in February 2021. Do you think the paper repeats articles to fill space?

solar powered leds on the arms for visibility.
 

How about putting solar powered led’s on the arms so the aged population can see them better.

Cool down
 

Subscribing the the "rag" is optional

It's not a question of "seeing the gate".

You may want to read previous posts to learn that most damage is done to the automatic arms on leaving a village; not the user-operated arms on entering a village.

Regardless, I think we may assume that much of the damage is caused by service providers who may not know The Villages that well and are rushing to their next job.

Anything that can make the arms more visible TO EVERYONE should be tried. We are the ones paying to repair the arms, so if we can reduce the number of collisions that money can be used for other purposes. With a reported 2,500 collisions per year, even a 10% reduction would save a lot of unnecessary expense.

entrance gates or exit? Or indeterminat? The exit gates are difficult for me as a new resident to figure out. It seems that if you are close to the car in front of you that the gate will let you through too. But I have hit the brakes too many times when following a car and the gate started to come down. If you sit and wait for the gate to come down then inch forward to make it rise again you are holding up traffic.

Entrance gates are another issue. But they aren't all passages on video? So someone can find out the license plate of gate crasher. Perhaps send them a bill?

Like I said, it's real difficult to recognize the exit by the white building, and the arm of the gate that has reflective tape on it..............:icon_wink:
Maybe if ALL slowed down instead of trying to beat it returning to the down position?
Of course, it is not the erratic and careless drivers fault, right?

Does anyone know what department fixes them as ours has been down for over 2 months?

Many drivers who break gates are identified, and they are billed for the damage.

Stop Tailgating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :ohdear::ohdear:

If you leave space between u & the car in front of you.......the gate WILL DROP DOWN, then proceed to the gate's electric eye and the gate will magically lift up. No tailgating = no hitting brakes "too many times".

Which is what one is supposed to do!!!!!!