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: