There were 130 gate strikes in the month of January in The Villages, many causing property damage by vehicles and golf carts.
We have dash cam video of one of the gate strikes in January:
Most strikes go unreported and are caught on 24/7 camera surveillance. Striking a gate is damage to government property and not reporting the accident is leaving the scene, which is a crime.
A fee of $250 is charged for a gate arm strike.
There are more than 3,000 gate repairs needed each year in The Villages and the majority of the damage at the gates can be attributed to distracted drivers. The District aggressively chases down about $50,000 in reimbursement each year from gate repairs from the offenders.
Do you believe the gates are serving their purpose in The Villages? Submit a Letter to the Editor to us at: news@villages-news.com
The vast majority of the thousands of gate repairs each year can be chalked up to distracted drivers. A review of the gate strikes, including video surveillance, shows that the distracted drivers are:
• Looking at their phones
• Looking at their mates
• Looking at the radio
• Looking at birds, golfers or other distractions.
