My wife and I have lived in the villages for 17 years, have gone thru the gates 1,000's of times without hitting one gate. We new from day one that the gates exist. I don't belive it's the gates fault.

Well did see once where the gate went up, the car started immediately thru and the gate fell on the car.

If you can't see the gate arms & just forgot they were there (even though you may have driven in & out hundreds of times) then it's time to stop driving. You could add blinding lights and & neon paint and people would still hit the gates. Just last week a woman somehow managed to roll her car over in front of a gate and hit a car that was waiting for the gate to open, I would estimate that about 1/3 of TV should not be driving. Then when you add in the amount of alcoholics who drive drunk it's no wonder the gates get hit so often. Put down the drink, pay attention, and be patient and the gate system will work just fine as is.

No problem seeing them at all. Only one car is to go thru the gate each time. Most people don’t comply resulting in hitting the gates ( one of the reasons ).

Pay attention and follow the rules.

Great post. The VHA has asked for reflective tape to be added. You cannot do lights because the design is that the gates break away and the wire would either break or cause the gate to wedge and increase damage to vehicles and District Property.

Haven't seen it in awhile but when we first moved here 14 yrs ago, we'd see folks tail-gating through a gate because they didn't want to take the time to swipe their card or hit the button. Then there are the workers with large trucks and pulling a wagon and the gate doesn't allow for that (for whatever reason). These are two of the reasons the gates might be hit. Other reasons might be because of imparments of some kind (age, sight-perception). I do agree that sometimes it's tough to see the gates due to the shadows etc. BUT as others stated you should always be aware that even if there isn't a gate house that each neighborhood (village) has these. It's to regulate traffic AND to help keep cart-drivers safe. When the cart-drivers try to beat the traffic that poses yet another problem and one sees this ALL the time. IF you don't know how we do stuff in the villages because you're new---there is a new resident's meeting held regularily that you can attend to find out "stuff".
On a side note....I observe perception issues quite often. People not pulling up in a parking spot or missing the lines altogether. Yesterday saw a car not pulling up properly at a light and another who didn't pull up in a parking spot at the mailboxes.

In addition, I wonder if a driver can't see a gate that they know is there, how many other potential and unexpected hazards don't they see. Like somebody's 4 year old grandchild. LEARN TO DRIVE OR WALK.

Once we have been here a day or so, we know there is a gate arm at the entrance to and exit from each village off/on main roads. The speed for approaching each gate entrance or exit is 5 MPH. Slow down and expect the gate to be there. If we can't see it, we should not be driving. I expect people in a hurry cause many of the gate hits, and impaired driving causes others.

Change the shape of the gate arm to flat vs. round.

Is that what you want your amenity fee spent on? Not me. I know the gate arm is there and drive accordingly.

Gate arms
 

I was in the camp that the arms are visible enough that no one should miss them. Then, one day, heading south on Morse approaching 466 I was in bright Sun and the gates were in shade. They were invisible until I was right up to them.

And you didn't know as you approached that they were there and slow down appropriately until you saw them?

I guess you don't drive a golf cart, we use the gates to see if a car is coming , gate down no car, gate up car.... I can't imagine how fast cars would zip through without them.

I often see skid marks leading into the center of the round-a-bouts.... sometimes knocking down light poles....maybe we should remove them too ? Get your eyes fixed.

If you go in and out of your community, or just about any community in The Villages, you know that there is an arm when you go in and out. If people drive through it I suspect that falls under inattentive driving (or driving under the influence).