Officials blame bad drivers for knocking on doors, say extra lights won’t help

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Officials blame bad drivers for driving in the villages and argue that the extra lighting won’t help.

Supervisor Dan Ruehl, representing Community Development District 9 at Monday’s project advisory committee meeting, tried to advocate for an additional lighting test to improve door visibility.

There are an average of 134 portal strikes per month in the Villages. The offender who knocks the door down is charged $250.

Ruehl suggested that additional lighting could reduce the number of gate strikes and improve security. He said testing the lights at a door could provide answers as to whether the lighting could help.

There are over 100 door strikes every month in The Villages.

His suggestion was quickly dismissed by District Manager Kenny Blocker and Ruehl’s other PWAC members.

The driver behind the wheel is the problem. They’re impatient, they sped up and hit the door, Blocker said.

He pointed to a recent report which found that barrier collisions mostly occur during the day, during periods of heavy traffic and that the number one factor is speed and lack of braking.

PWAC member Jon Roudabush, a Fenney Village resident who serves as chair of the Community Development District 12 board, agreed with Blockers’ assessment of the situation.

It’s not the doors. He’s the driver, 100%, Roudabush said.

Ruehl tried to push his suggestion forward.

Doing nothing is not going to improve the situation, Ruehl said. If gate lights don’t work during the day, why do they use them at level crossings?

However, Ruehl’s suggestion failed to gain traction.

Everyone knows the gates are there if you’ve lived here 30 days. The problem is that two people are trying to get through the door when she gets up. You can’t fix stupid. Throwing money at it won’t solve the problem, said Steve Bova, PWAC member and supervisor of Community Development District 10.

Do you think the lights would help reduce the number of knocks on doors in The Villages? Share your thoughts in a letter to the editor at [email protected]

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