By Kelsey Givens

One man was air lifted to a Las Vegas area hospital in critical condition Thursday afternoon after a minivan reportedly struck the driver of a dirt bike on State Route 160 near Wilson Road.

Sgt. Carlos Rivera of the Nevada Highway Patrol said it appeared the driver of a red dirt bike was traveling southbound on the highway when a white Toyota minivan traveling in the opposite direction attempted to make a left-hand turn onto Frontage Road and struck the rider.

“We have a two-vehicle accident involving a red dirt bike that was traveling southbound on State Route 160 and a white minivan that was traveling northbound.

“The minivan was trying to make a left turn off here on Frontage and unfortunately an accident occurred and the driver of the dirt bike was transported by flight to UMC,” he said.

Witnesses at the scene said they saw the minivan turn in front of the dirt bike at the intersection, causing the two vehicles to collide.

The impact of that collision then reportedly knocked the rider off of his bike, sending him flying up and over the minivan before he landed on the roadway.

At some point during his path from the bike to the ground, it also appeared the rider’s helmet came off, causing injuries to his head.

“That is what we’re gathering from witnesses right now; they said he did have his helmet on, but at some point it came off in the contact with the other vehicle, so we don’t know if the helmet was secured properly,” Rivera said. “Everything is pretty early right now in the investigation, but based on what witnesses said, it looks like he was on the highway and tried to make a turning movement off to the side to avoid the accident.”

The rider also suffered other serious injuries as a result of the accident and Mercy Air was called to the scene to life flight the male from the highway to University Medical Center in Las Vegas for emergency care.

State Route 160 was shut down in both directions from State Route 372 to just past Taco Bell as first responders worked to stabilize the injured rider and transport him from the scene.

The white minivan sustained minor damages to the front passenger side in the collision and the red dirt bike appeared to have a bent wheel and chipped and broken frame.

Rivera said at the time of the incident it did not appear as though the dirt bike had any kind of registration.

Though it wasn’t a contributing factor in this accident, Rivera said it’s important to remind people to make sure their vehicles have the proper registration and equipment when traveling on the road.

“It doesn’t have any kind of registration right now and this is one thing we want to get out the public, we want to make sure you have the proper equipment, proper registration to be on the highway,” he said.

The dirt bike rider reportedly remained in the intensive care unit at UMC as of Monday afternoon.