OCEANA COUNTY, Mich. — Whether it's off-roading or sliding in the sand, Silver Lake Sand Dunes is a part of what makes Michigan so great. However, after several accidents in recent years, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources is collaborating with the Silver Lake Recreation Association to make the park safer.
Two people died in separate incidents at the park last year because of crashes.
"We had that one accident out there a year ago in the test and tune area. Over time, we kept [having] periodic incidents and accidents simply because there's engagement with motorized vehicles, and sometimes you have people that are very skilled and then go up there all the time, and other people that never been up there before," said Ron Olson, Chief of Parks and Recreation for the DNR.
It's why the DNR and the SLRA are working together.
"We decided that we needed to do some things, such as escalating our Ride Right campaign, which we use for our ORV trails and snowmobiling," Olson said. "We created some signage and that to make sure that people were prepared when they got out there to pay attention what they're doing."
There's signage prohibiting alcohol, safety gear reminders, and rule postings.
"There's other simple things like make sure you have a flag on there. That's required, and you have to air down your tires," Olson added.
The DNR plans to also produce a safety video for off-road riders.
"If somebody rents a unit at a concession or something in town, that they look at this video so that they can be prepared," said Olson. "That's what we're working with them on. And they put out a public facing support to remind people to be safe and all that."
Olson said the collaboration with the SLRA is still ongoing but they hope to have the video produced by Memorial Day weekend.
"One of our videographers going out there to film and that sort of thing. I know that that's the goal, so we could get that up at times when that season really picks up steam," Olson added.
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