Senate District 20 covers the southeasternmost corner of Sussex County, stretching along the Atlantic coastline to the Maryland state line and including Bethany Beach, Dagsboro, Fenwick Island, and Frankford. (If you are not 100% sure whether you live in Senate District 20, you can search here using your address.) If you live in this district your choice on November 3 to represent you in the Delaware Senate is between the incumbent Senator Gerald Hocker and his challenger Harry Gold. Using a multiple choice format, we asked these two candidates to share their views on five statements related to traffic safety in Delaware. Their answers are here:
1) I voted for, or agree with, the Truth in E-Bike Marketing Act (HS 1 for HB 439), which prohibits commercial sellers from advertising high-speed electric motorcycles using terms like “electric bicycle” or “e-bike” and requires clear written disclosures regarding a vehicle’s legal classification, power, and licensing requirements.
Gold: Strongly Agree
Hocker: Agree
2) I voted for, or support, the recently passed HB 363, which allowed the default speed limit on streets in residential districts to be lowered to 20 mph.
Gold: Strongly Agree
Hocker: Agree
3) Single-vehicle run-off-the-road crashes account for over a third of Delaware’s fatal crashes. To address this, I would support legislation complementing HB 363 that lowers the default speed limit on low-volume rural roads (e.g. “tar and chip” roads) below the current 50 mph threshold.
Gold: Strongly Agree
Hocker: Neither Agree or Disagree
4) To further reduce traffic crashes on rural roadways, I support making Delaware’s rural road network more “self-explaining” using road surfaces and roadside design that convey a continuous visual message to drivers, providing more effective guidance than intermittent signage alone.
Gold: Strongly Agree
Hocker: Neither Agree or Disagree
5) To reduce crashes at intersections, I support the use of single-lane urban roundabouts and engineering those roundabouts to be slow speed junctions, keeping vehicle speeds under 20 mph at all potential collision points.
Gold:Agree
Hocker: Agree
6) Is there anything else about your record as an elected official, your experience or your views that you think is relevant to improving traffic safety in Delaware for the people you wish to represent in the 154th General Assembly?
Gold: Every Delawarean should be able to walk or bike safely, and in coastal Sussex County that need grows every summer. Delaware’s Complete Streets policy has largely applied only when roads are rebuilt or widened. I will support dedicated funding for bike and pedestrian projects, including continuous sidewalks, protected bike lanes, well-lit and signaled crosswalks, pedestrian refuge islands, and ADA-accessible crossings. I also support traffic calming and lower speeds in our walkable beach communities. I’ll encourage DelDOT to finalize and apply its Complete Streets Design Guide across state, county, and local projects. To pay for it fairly, I support a transparent look at how second- and third-home owners contribute to the roads their presence requires.
Hocker: I have fought for bike and pedestrian lanes on multiple roadways’ shoulders throughout the district, and will continue doing so if re-elected. Additionally, I have advocated for and secured funding through the annual Capital Improvement (Bond) bill to construct recreational biking and walking paths.
