Car damaged from apartment security gate

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Question

Country: United States of America
State: Arizona

I live in an apartment complex with a series of security gates, one of which apparently has no sensor in order to prevent inadvertent closing of the gate while there is an obstruction, such as a car or a child, in its path. There are no markings or signs informing residents of such. My wife was exiting through such gate this morning with our new car and was required to stop half-way through, in order to wait for a car to pass by on the intersecting road. While she was in the path of the gate it began to close and did in fact make contact with our automobile causing a small amount of damage. After speaking with the apartment management, they informed us that the gate is purposely wired this way to prevent people from blocking the gate open. My question is that it would seem to me that this policy is a huge liability issue in the safety department and I am looking to see if there is in fact a law stating that a motorized gate has to have some kind of sensor and retract sits em to prevent injury. The management company seems to be willing to cooperate at this early stage, however I am interested in getting this information and a point of contact if they are in the wrong, in order to bolster my case if an issue should present itself while resolving this matter with the apartments corporate office.

Answer

That is not correct--the gate should have a sensor--your wife may sue for damges if she acted reasonably--