A 19-year-old Accord man is currently in critical condition after falling off the roof of a friend's car while it was moving.
The Ulster County Sheriff's Office reports that the accident happened at 5:49pm on Friday, May 11, on Whitfield Road near the border between Marbletown and Rochester. Tyler Rion was riding in a 1992 Chevrolet Blazer driven by 20-year-old Leonard Helmich when he climbed out the front passenger side window, in an attempt to ride on the roof.
Rion fell from the car and struck his head on the pavement. He was transported by helicopter to Westchester County Medical Center, where he is critical condition.
Car surfing is extremely dangerous, even at low speeds. The Centers for Disease Control issued a report on car surfing in 2008 that found that between 1990 and 2008, U.S. newspapers reported 58 car surfing deaths and 41 non-fatal injuries. In these incidents, 70 percent of those injured were male, and 69 percent were between 15 and 19 years old. The CDC numbers on car surfing injuries may be under-reported, in part because newspapers are more likely to report a death than an injury.
The incident is under investigation, and no charges have been filed yet. Responding to the scene in addition to Ulster County Sheriff's Deputies were the New York State Police, Kripplebush Fire Department, Kerhonkson Accord Rescue, Marbletown Rescue and Mobile Life Support.
