California man injured in icy US 31 crash.

– Oceana County Sheriff’s Office photo

California man injured in icy US 31 crash.

#OceanaCounty

By Allison Scarbrough, Editor.

WEARE TOWNSHIP — A California man was transported by Life EMS to Mercy Health Partners Hackley Campus in Muskegon Thursday, Jan. 9, at about 3 p.m. following a single-vehicle crash on southbound US 31 north of Hammett Road near Pentwater, according to Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast.

The man was driving a white SUV and lost control on “very icy roads” caused by freezing rain, Mast said. Fortunately, there were no passengers in his vehicle other than his dog, which emergency personnel were trying to locate. It is not immediately known if the small white dog survived.

– Oceana County Sheriff’s Office photo

The passenger side of the car was completely destroyed in the crash, Mast said, and it is doubtful that anyone riding in the passenger seat would have survived.

The vehicle struck a large pine tree in the median, which snapped in half, the sheriff said. “It completely spun around,” he said of the car.

The man appears to have suffered non-life-threatening injuries. However, he sustained “a considerably large bump” on his forehead. He was able to walk to the ambulance, he said.

It is not immediately known if he was wearing a seatbelt, but the airbags deployed.

– Oceana County Sheriff’s Office photo

Hart Area Fire Department Jaws of Life cut into the vehicle in an attempt to locate the missing dog, Mast said.

Oceana County Sheriff’s Office, the Hart Area Fire Department, Pentwater Fire Department and Life EMS responded to the scene.

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