SUV driver ‘surprised to be alive’ after crash with dirt bike at Silver Lake Sand Dunes

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The driver of an SUV that collided head-on with a dirt bike at the Silver Lake Sand Dunes says he is “surprised to be alive.”

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

Video from a 360-camera mounted on the Kawasaki dirt bike documented the crash, showing the bike slamming into the SUV’s windshield and the biker’s body flipping through the air. Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast previously said the biker “cheated death.”

On Saturday, the driver of the SUV, Gavin Plume, told News 8 he was grateful to be alive, too.

Plume said it was his first time at the dunes. He said he got in his car to look for a restroom when it all took a turn.

“I was driving slow, and I started to go up the hill,” he said. “And I got about three quarters of the way up, and I didn’t even realize it that all of a sudden, I had a dirt bike in my windshield.”

When the crash happened, Plume happened to be flying his drone to capture the views on his trip. He shared the video with News 8.

“I think my visor came down, hit me in my right eye — right above it, I mean,” Plume said. “I was seeing double, and then I had blurred vision in my right eye.”

Video shows the driver of the dirt bike cartwheeling through the air.

Plume urged everyone to take extra precaution when driving in the area.

“Make sure you are watching in every way you possibly can and, you know, you are watching your surroundings and making sure that everything is safe around you,” he said. “You can try to avoid an accident and anything like that happening.”

Plume was taken to the hospital and later released. The biker, who previously said he suffered a compressed fracture of his L2 vertebrae, small lung puncture and concussion, was expected to make a full recovery.

Now, Plume is hoping the crash can remind everyone to be cautious when driving or riding on the dunes.

“I hope they can make it safer for people to enjoy and have fun, and it prevents accidents like that from happening or possible deaths,” he said. “I am just surprised to be alive, to be honest, after seeing my vehicle, what the motorcycle taken off it. I mean, the whole roof caved in. I honestly don’t know how I’m here today. I can’t wrap my head around it, to be honest, other than someone was looking out for the both of us that day and looked after us.”

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