Why Do You Need a Gate in a Neighborhood?

This one blows my mind. That’s an actual gate keeping residents from accessing the portions of the neighborhood they don’t live in. I don’t know what caused this, but I’ve never seen an HOA choose to do something like this. They must be true jerks, or there must be some other reason behind this.

I’m sure there are other entrances, but this still looks dumb. What if an emergency vehicle needs to get through? I mean, it’s an electronic gate. It was expensive. A lot of money went into separating this neighborhood. Hopefully, someone drives through it, or an HOA boycott will take place.