New safety campaign, no rule changes for now at Silver Lake Sand Dunes

GOLDEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Three months after a drag-racing Jeep lost control and killed a West Michigan mom at Silver Lake Sand Dunes, the state is putting up new safety signs at the popular Oceana County attraction.

“We want people to drive and act and experience things responsibly … (so) we’re going to really market the behavioral end of things,” said Ron Olson of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

The safety push is an expansion of the DNR’s Ride Right campaign , which was launched years ago to educate users of state-designated ORV and snowmobile trails.

“While dune riding is not technically a trail … there are a lot of similarities,” Olson remarked. “People sometimes go too fast or use poor judgment.”

In an Aug. 10 crash, a Rockford-area dirt biker was driving too fast in the dunes when he crested a blind hill, caught air and collided head-on with an SUV.

Both drivers in that collision are expected to recover fully.

Olson said while Ride Right signs and banners will go up in time for Labor Day weekend crowds, the state is still considering how to enhance spectator safety in the wake of the fatal collision early in the season.

DNR TO ADDRESS SPECTATOR SAFETY

“One of the pieces that we’re going to work on is to have people spectate further from the edge because, right now, people are setting their own edge,” explained Olson, chief of Parks and Recreation with the DNR. “We want people, if they’re going to spectate, to stay back.”

On Memorial Day weekend, the Price family of Pierson was standing outside their vehicle in a row of spectators, watching the action in the dunes’ test and tune area, also referred to as the drag strip.

The police report on the fatal accident did not indicate how far spectators stood from the strip, and Olson of the DNR did not have that information.

When a modified Jeep CJ accelerated at a race’s start, the vehicle lost control and jumped a small berm marking the track’s edge, careening toward a row of spectators.

The Jeep slammed into a parked vehicle which struck and killed Kadie Price, a 33-year-old mom of two small children who was married to a Kent County Sheriff’s deputy.

In her final act, Price pushed the couple’s young daughter to safety.

Olson said the DNR plans to address spectator safety “in the near future.”

“We will have an area that’s defined,” Olson told News 8 in a Zoom interview Monday. “The first step will be to create a way to (set) a sensical boundary, and then we’ll have to see if people comply.”

If they don’t follow the state’s recommendation, Olson said the DNR might pursue a new rule for spectators.

FOR NOW, NO CHANGES TO RULES

But, for now, the state has no plans to enact additional regulations at the dunes.

“The rules remain the same,” said Olson. “We have plenty of rules and nothing has changed in that regard.”

Olson later added that safety reviews are underway and new rules could be added in future seasons.

The dunes don’t have speed limits, but 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.”

Olson noted that promulgating new rules takes time and does not ensure safety.

“Just because we have a rule doesn’t mean everybody follows it, and we can’t have staff everywhere all the time,” noted Olson. “You can give them a ticket after, but in the moment, if an accident happens, it happens… That’s why we need to keep reminding people not to let their excitement, their sense of adventure, get carried away at the expense of their, or somebody’s else’s (safety).”

Olson said the DNR will place a 4-foot by 4-foot sign near the drag strip that reads “!FOR SAFETY’S SAKE! ALWAYS STAY A SAFE DISTANCE AWAY FROM VEHICLES OPERATING AT HIGH SPEED.”

The state will also erect three 4-foot by 8-foot banners encouraging visitors to ride at safe speeds, note their surroundings and ride within their abilities. The banners will be placed at “strategic locations as visitors enter.”

“These are key reminders,” said Olson. “We want to make sure that people use common sense and follow the rules.”

Another sign declares in all caps that “SPEED IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF ORV RIDER INJURIES AND DEATH…. GO HOME SAFE TO YOUR FAMILY.”

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