Man identified in vehicle, rock crawling fatality
A man killed in a rock crawler accident on Thursday, Aug. 9, has been identified by California Highway Patrol as James Davidson Jr., 62, of Chico, Calif.
Davidson had been participating in the 51st annual Sierra Trek, a California Four Wheel Drive Association event, on Fordyce Creek Trail when, according to the department, he lost control coming down a hill and rolled his Jeep Willys.
Davidson was completely ejected and the vehicle rolled over on top of him. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the CHP reported.
“From what witnesses said he just went over a couple of rocks and just kind of lost control, and got going a little too fast and rolled it over,” said CHP Officer Chris Nave. “When he rolled it over, he was ejected out of the vehicle.”
Davidson was the only one in the vehicle, and whether he was wearing a seat belt is still under investigation.
The California Four Wheel Drive Association canceled Friday’s full trail run on Fordyce Creek Trail after the incident, according to the association’s Facebook page.
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