NASCAR, and thousands of fans, have arrived in Dover for the the first of two 2014 race weekends, and the Dover Police Department is offering safety advice for visitors and residents alike.
Motorists are advised to take it slow on the Route 13 corridor, which could see minor delays in the Dover area throughout the weekend. Golf carts, ATVs and other non-registered vehicles are also prohibited on roadways. And of course, do not drink and drive, or cross roadways while impaired.
Dover Police spokesperson Corporal Mark Hoffman says the road is where most incidents occur during race week.
"Anytime you see a large influx of people to Dover we’re gonna see increased traffic volume, which is gonna cause delays, you’re gonna have your road rage incidents, you’re gonna have usually minor damage accidents, you don’t usually see too many injury accidents because people tend to slow down because of the traffic. You’ll see a lot of pedestrians crossing the roadways," said Hoffman. "It’s mostly traffic issues we deal with."
Cpl. Hoffman adds there also tends to be a slight increase of theft, mostly in the camping areas, but despite the influx of people there generally isn’t too much trouble.
"Anytime you double or possibly triple the population size and put them in such a small area, you’re gonna face those issues. The population of Dover is approximately 38-40k people, and we’re bringing in anywhere from 40-100k people on a race weekend. So it presents some issues for our police department but we usually get through it pretty well," said Hoffman. "Most of these people are here for vacation and have a good time and tend to not cause too much of an issue for us."
Cpl. Hoffman also reminds people to be aware that there are first aid stations are open through Sunday, including at Gates 1, 5 and 15 at the track.
