‘He cheated death’: Video shows head-on crash at Silver Lake Sand Dunes

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A 21-year-old Rockford-area man is recovering after his dirt bike collided head-on with an SUV at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes.

It happened just before 5 p.m. Aug. 10 at the state park near Hart.

Video from the 360 camera mounted on the Kawasaki dirt bike documented the stunning collision.

In it, you can see the northbound dirt bike crest a hill and catch air before slamming into the windshield of a southbound Jeep Cherokee that was about to crest the dune’s back side.

The bike stopped at the windshield, but the biker’s body did not.

You can see him cartwheeling through the air in a surreal free fall that’s better suited for a movie screen.

“He cheated death right there,” said Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast, comparing the biker’s trajectory to that of a rag doll tumbling down the dunes. “If he were a cat, you’d say he’s down one life for sure.”

Mast sent the video clip to Target 8, hoping to send a message to dunes visitors.

“I shared that with you for a reason,” said Mast in a Zoom interview with Target 8. “I want people to be aware, when you come visit Silver Lake Sand Dunes, you need to be aware of your surroundings. You need to be aware there’s other vehicles out there operating at high speeds. You just can’t use enough caution.”

While there’s no speed limit at Silver Lake Sand Dunes and no directional rules in the area where the crash happened, the accident report said the “hazardous action” was “speed too fast” on the part of the dirt biker.

No citations were issued.

The dirt biker, who did not want to be identified by name, told Target 8 he suffered a compressed fracture of his L2 vertebrae, small lung puncture and concussion.

He’s expected to make a full recovery.

Mast said the driver of the Jeep Cherokee, a 25-year-old Alpena man, was taken to the hospital but has since been released.

The Rockford-area dirt biker told Target 8 he went to the dunes for a few hours that day to ride alone and test his new camera.

“As I was riding around, I saw other bikes jumping a hill with spotters,” he said in a text exchange with Target 8. “So, I joined in. I maybe got six jumps in when the accident happened….I’m sure I was going a little fast, but I wasn’t trying to go super big on the jump, so I wasn’t going that crazy fast.”

The biker said he’ll secure his own spotter next time.

“Lessons learned,” he said. “I’m just glad everyone made it out okay….I grew up on the dunes. You constantly have to keep your head on a swivel. I usually do a good job of spotting and checking the area.”

The head-on collision came three months after a driver lost control in the area known as the drag strip, striking a parked vehicle and killing a spectator.

Kadie Price, 33 of Pierson, had been watching the drag races with her two young children and husband, a Kent County sheriff’s deputy.

The Oceana County prosecutor did not pursue criminal charges against the driver who lost control, pointing to the unregulated nature of the area where the crash occurred and saying it was accidental.

“This has been a rough year for the Silver Lake Sand Dunes,” Mast said. “We’ve had a fatality. We’ve had some rough accidents.”

Mast said there are injuries every summer, but they’re usually more minor.

“We know exactly when the dunes open up in April because ambulances start going there, and we start taking reports,” he said. “Usually broken collarbones, broken arms, things of that nature.”

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been reviewing the fatal accident to determine what, if any, changes should be made at the state park.

“We’re still discussing implementation of additional safety procedures,” wrote DNR Public Information Officer Ed Golder in an email to Target 8.

Golder said the DNR administrator who knows the details of that effort was not available Friday.

“He can speak to you next week about what is under discussion and where we are in implementation,” Golder wrote.

While there are no speed restrictions on the dunes, drivers are expected to follow a set of rules and regulations , including a key one that states an individual “shall not operate an ORV at a rate of speed greater than is reasonable and proper, or in a careless manner, having due regard for conditions then existing.”

Drivers have to mount orange safety flags on their vehicles and wear helmets to operate ATVs and motorcycles, among other rules.

Mast mentioned implementing speed limits and capacity cutoffs as potential options, but he did not endorse either.

“Currently, there’s no capacity,” Mast said. “They just keep loading them in and loading them in. Now, those are some of the things that people love about the dunes. They can go out there and they can open up their vehicle and run it in places as fast as it will go, and they can watch dozens and dozens — sometimes hundreds — of other vehicles going as fast as they can go … climbing big hills, making big jumps, doing some very unique driving that you don’t get to do anywhere else in the eastern half of the United States.”

Mast noted that when the state banned drag racing at the dunes in 2021, legislators passed a law to lift the restriction.

“There was an outcry so loud that it went to a legislative level,” Mast said. “Our governor heard about this to the point where they legalized it. They again made it legal to drag race out on the Silver Lake Sand Dunes. The sheer number of people who enjoy the sand dunes, they have a collective voice, and they know how to use it at times too.”

Mast said he’s not promoting change, opting instead to “stay in his lane.”

“As the sheriff, my lane is safety and security out there. I want to see the tourists and the people and the residents come enjoy themselves but do so in a way that gets them home safely. How do we (make that happen)? If I could come up with that equation, I could probably be at a higher-paying job somewhere….It’s a tough decision.”

Mast noted that more than a million people visit the dunes annually.

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