Report: In fatal crash at Silver Lake Sand Dunes, driver blamed ‘stuck throttle’
GOLDEN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The driver who hit and killed a woman while drag racing at Silver Lake Sand Dunes told investigators he believed his vehicle’s throttle got stuck, according to a report released this week by the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office.
“(The driver) advised that when he depressed his accelerator pedal, the pedal stuck to the floor and did not return,” wrote a sheriff’s deputy in the case report on the incident. “(He) advised that he lost control of the vehicle, and his vehicle suddenly went northeast and jumped a small sand berm from where the drag strip was graded.”
Sheriff looks at ORV modifications in deadly dunes crash
That’s when the modified Jeep CJ slammed into a yellow Jeep Wrangler, which was lined up with the vehicles of other spectators enjoying the races.
The Wrangler belonged to Charlie and Kadie Price, who were watching the action at the dunes’ “test and tune” area with their two young children.
The Jeep that veered out of control hit the Prices’ Wrangler, which then struck and killed Kadie Price.
The 33-year-old mom from Pierson, who was married to Kent County Sheriff’s Deputy Charlie Price, was able to push her 2-year-old daughter to safety at the last moment.
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Charlie and the Prices’ other child also escaped serious injury.
According to the sheriff’s report, officers assessing the Jeep that lost control attempted to check for the stuck throttle.
“We checked the function of the throttle cable and accelerator pedal to see if we could replicate what (the driver) had described as a stuck gas pedal,” wrote a deputy in the case report. “We were unable to replicate the issue after multiple attempts, though this does not definitively prove that there was not an issue.”
Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast told Target 8 that detectives also consulted multiple industry experts regarding the Jeep’s modifications.
‘HIGH-DOLLAR, WELL-BUILT MACHINE’
“(The Jeep) was set up very much for drag racing” Mast said in a Zoom interview with Target 8 Friday. “We examined the braking system, the transmission, the drive system on it. We’re told by the local experts that it’s a high-dollar, well-built machine. It was set up very well, and it should have been capable of stopping with the braking system that was operating on the vehicle.”
In the report, one of the experts noted that the Jeep did not have a “toe hook on the pedal” which allows the driver to “physically pull the pedal back to a neutral position if the throttle sticks.”
Mast said the mechanism appears to be an additional safety option, but it is not required.
“(The expert) reiterated that his professional opinion was that the Jeep was set up with adequate stopping power and stopping equipment,” wrote a deputy in the report.
Deputies collected and reviewed videos from three bystanders.
“The race begins with the Jeep accelerating heavily and taking the lead,” wrote a deputy. “As (the driver) is accelerating down the drag strip, I noted that his vehicle bounces once as if hitting a bump in the track. The Jeep begins to lose control and starts to turn to the right in a northeast direction. I noted (the driver) attempts to compensate for the turn by steering his tires to the left.”
At that point, the Jeep hit the small sand berm on the edge of the drag strip, which accumulates when the track is graded.
“The Jeep jumped the sand berm and then is noted to first tip up on its driver side tires only and then once it lands on the ground, the Jeep tips up on its passenger side tires only,” wrote a deputy. “It’s noted that the vehicle is still accelerating rapidly.”
A passenger in the Jeep agreed that the vehicle’s throttle appeared to stick.
“(The passenger) advised that the race started without incident until the Jeep reached a higher gear,” wrote a deputy. “(He) advised that he recalled (the driver) attempting to push the kill switch on the dashboard of the vehicle.”
At one point, the Jeep’s driver told deputies that “the people watching the races should have to stay back at least 100 feet from the drag strip,” according to the case report.
Based on videos, it’s difficult to determine the distance between the drag strip and spectators, and the case report does not offer an estimate.
“Can it be made safer?” asked Mast. “I’m sure it can. I know the state park and the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) is taking this incredibly seriously, and they want the best experience for all their visitors up there, so I’m sure they’ll do whatever they can to make it the safest experience possible.”
Mother killed in dune crash was first-of-its-kind case, DNR says
The DNR told Target 8 it continues to review its policies at Silver Lake State Park in the wake of the fatal collision.
In 2021, there was discussion of whether or not the dunes fell under a statute that makes drag racing illegal in public areas, Ron Olson, chief of the DNR’s Parks and Recreation Division, previously told News 8. Ultimately, lawmakers passed a bill making the Silver Lake dunes exempt from that law.
State Rep. Luke Meerman, R-Coopersville, was one of the bill’s sponsors. In a Friday statement to Target 8, he said the Price family was in his prayers.
“Dune riding at Silver Lake is a popular attraction at the state park and Kadie’s death on May 26th is a tragedy that should lead to change at the park to ensure that spectators are safe and away from harm’s way,” Meerman’s statement concluded.
Mast noted that the drag strip has seen “relatively few accidents” given that 1.6 to 1.8 million people visit the dunes yearly.
“We’ve had a couple injury accidents (on the drag strip). This is the first fatality that I’m aware of.”
WITNESS: ‘I JUST FROZE’
Alexys Johnson of Wayland has visited the dunes for years and told Target 8 she’s never before witnessed an accident.
That changed on May 26.
Johnson was sitting near the Prices’ vehicle when the crash happened.
“Me and my brother-in-law were in the back of his truck, sitting in the tailgate,” recalled Johnson, speaking to Target 8 Friday via Zoom. “My sister saw the Jeep starting to lose control and coming right at us. So, my sister grabbed my (7-month-old) niece and started running. I just froze. I was just staring at it coming at us, and my brother-in-law grabbed me and threw me in the back of the truck and kind of bear-hugged me. And then we just heard the smack.”
Johnson said she and her sister ran to help, scooping up the Prices’ two young children.
“Me and my sister grabbed the kids so they didn’t have to see what was going on,” recalled Johnson. “My sister grabbed their little boy. I grabbed the little girl. We sat them on our tailgate, and I gave her a cup of water.”
Johnson said Kadie Price was wedged between the Prices’ Jeep and another vehicle.
“A bunch of people came over and started helping to move the Jeep so they could get her out,” Johnson said. “They started CPR. My heart breaks for that family, seeing how it all unraveled that day. My heart broke when I saw those little kids and her husband.”
Moments before the crash, Johnson’s boyfriend and son had been parked right next to the Prices.
“I told (my boyfriend) it would be nice if you took (our son) down the drag strip because he loves doing stuff like that,” Johnson recalled. “So, he got back in the side-by-side, and I took their picture. As soon as they took off to go, not even thirty seconds later, the accident happened.”
She said she began sobbing when she spotted her boyfriend and son after the crash.
“I just started bawling and thanking myself for telling them to move, because if I wouldn’t have, they would have still been sitting there.”
Johnson said she and her sister have both struggled with what they witnessed.
“The whole day was just so traumatizing,” Johnson said. “I don’t even know how to explain it. It’s something that I don’t wish anyone to see. Especially young children like theirs.”
Johnson has been watching the drag races for years and said she’s never before felt unsafe — or too close to the action.
‘A BIG, BIG WAKE-UP CALL’
“It was a big, big wake-up call almost,” Johnson said of the fatal collision. “I think we’ve learned our lesson on sitting down by the drag strip.”
She thinks the accident should prompt additional safety measures, but she’s not sure what that would look like.
She just hopes drag racing at the dunes can continue.
Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast is preparing to turn over the case to Oceana County Prosecutor Joseph Bizon, who will determine what, if any, criminal charges the driver should face.
Mast told Target 8 the department received results of toxicology tests Friday, which confirmed what they already believed: The driver did not have alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of the crash.
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