A Deadly Rite of Passage

Two motorists died late Monday in the fiery crash of their minivan, bringing to five the number of deaths blamed on drag-racing in Orange County over the last four months.

Four of the deaths involved motorists who were not racing but were struck by vehicles that were competing. The fifth fatality was a 16-year-old Dana Hills High School student who in September slammed his new sports car into a tree.

Drag-racing has long been a rite of passage for teenagers, celebrated in movies like “Rebel Without a Cause” and “American Graffiti.” Police said the summer hit movie “The Fast and the Furious”--about drag-racers in Los Angeles--appears to have boosted the activity’s popularity among teens.

“It’s been a consistent problem in Southern California,” said Placentia Police Sgt. Eric Pointe, whose department recently set up a special enforcement unit that has cracked down on racers hanging out at a shopping center at Rose Drive and Imperial Highway.

In Santa Ana, police said they receive regular complaints from business owners who hear the roaring motors and screeching tires in the city’s southwest commercial district.

Santa Ana has recorded two major drag-racing accidents this year, including one in August in which a father and his young daughter were killed when a racer barreled into their car.

The most recent fatalities occurred late Monday in Dana Point.

Two Ford Mustangs were drag-racing on Del Obispo Street when one of the cars crashed into a minivan that was making a left turn from Quail Run, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The van rolled 120 feet and burst into flames. The fire was so intense, authorities said, that witnesses who tried to rescue those inside were driven back by the heat.

The driver of one of the Mustangs, 18-year-old Erin Gormley, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. The driver of the second car was still at large late Tuesday.

The two San Clemente men in the van were described as in their mid-40s, but their names were not released.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Steve Doan said the drivers of the two Mustangs may not have known each other and that the race was spontaneous.

The accident occurred a few miles from the intersection where Steven Katzenberger, 16, was killed during a race in September. Katzenberger had just left his job at a movie theater when he began drag-racing with a friend along Camino del Avion in Laguna Niguel. He lost control of his new Mitsubishi Eclipse turbo coupe and crashed into a tree.

Several police departments--who over the summer launched programs to reduce street racing--said their efforts appear to be paying off.

During the summer, Irvine police arrested more than two dozen teens and impounded 15 cars on Fridays and Saturdays each week, for several months. “When you lose your wheels, it hurts,” Irvine Police Sgt. Denny Jenner said. “They’re teens, and not having a car for that long, and having to pay the storage fees will make them think twice about racing.”

Traffic officers were deployed to trouble spots, joining with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to toughen enforcement. The racers met at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Foothill Ranch and would drive to Irvine to race, Jenner said.

Police said racers search the landscape for what they consider a perfect race spot, often a quarter-mile stretch where they can speed up to 80 mph and come to a sudden stop or turn a sharp corner at the end of the race.

Shortly after “The Fast and the Furious” opened this summer, Tustin police set up a special enforcement team at Red Hill and Edinger avenues, where they did undercover surveillance on about 100 teens who gathered to watch and race.

“The racers were out there almost every week,” Tustin Police Lt. Brent Zicarelli said. But Zicarelli said a recent crackdown has helped push racers out of the city.

Tustin police said they also have arrested some spectators on misdemeanor charges of aiding and abetting the contests. They could be jailed up to six months and fined $1,000.

“Anyone that was out there, we’d make it uncomfortable so we can push them out of the city,” Zicarelli said.

“We’d issue tickets or call their parents for curfew violation. We took a hard proactive stance on any violators of speed contests. We wanted to tell them this was not going to be tolerated. They don’t realize the harm they’re putting out to the public.”