Not all gates are for whole communities. My husband and I own 25 acres back in the states, and when we build on it we will gate the private drive that will lead to our house, mostly to keep out random curious people driving around.
The gate where I last would close automatically, too – except when a nearby car was sensed by the electronic eye. Then the gate would open right back up. You could get the gate to re-open from roughly a half-closed position by driving up to about 3 feet from the gate.
Control-z, the way you’re telling it … your place’s gate carries a high risk of slamming into a car (or even a person on foot). Will it not automatically open when a car is in the way of it’s closing?
It doesn’t close until the sensor is clear, I think the sensor is detecting metal. Once it thinks the sensor is clear it starts its close cycle and there’s no turning back. A couple people (my dad included) have had the thing close on their vehicle. It’s not a big danger, just a 1/2" thick wooden gate that swings from vertical to horizontal when it closes. But of course it can scrape your paint.
Pedestrians would just walk around, there’s no fence. The gate is just to prevent vehicles from coming in, there’s no way to drive around it but you could walk around it or ride a bicycle or motorcycle around the edge of it.
OK, I understand now … sounds like the kissing cousin of a typical parking garage gate. The type of gate I have in mind is like a huge, heavy horizontal guillotine.