CEDAR CITY — A Cedar City man was airlifted Saturday night after he fell off his dirt bike and sustained serious head injuries.
Police were called out at around 8:20 p.m. on reports of a motorcycle crash involving a 21-year-old male who had fallen off the back of his bike. The victim was camping near Comstock Mine at the time.
The man rode the bike into the campsite but rather than slowing down, he accelerated, Iron County Sheriff Sgt. Jeff Humphries said. The crash victim was then thrown off the back of the motorcycle, he said.
He was not wearing a helmet.
“He didn’t have a lot of experience riding motorcycles,” Humphries said. “So, when he drove into the campsite he panicked and instead of slowing down – he accelerated. The bike did a wheelie throwing him off the back.”
The bike came to rest on the ground after hitting a parked pickup truck on scene, he added.
Life Flight was dispatched at around 8:45 p.m. to Iron Springs Road and state Route 56 due to the difficulty of the helicopter landing at the location of the crash, authorities said.
The man was transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George for severe head trauma.
It is undetermined at this time whether alcohol played a part in the crash, Humphries said.
The incident is still under investigation.
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