EVERETT — In the movies, it often starts with dueling gazes and revving engines at a stoplight.
Tires spin, burning rubber fills the air and the quiet night is disturbed by roaring engines.
Often spontaneous and always illegal, real-life street racing too often ends in disaster.
There’s no question that a tragedy occurred early Saturday on E. Marine View Drive not far from the Highway 529 bridge.
But investigators are trying to determine just what caused the car crash that killed Chianne Lynn Nguyen Enick, 15, and sent her boyfriend, 18, to the region’s trauma center.
Everett police crash detectives are checking witness reports that the 1994 Honda Civic may have been racing. They’re also looking into whether a second car may have been chasing the teenagers.
“We haven’t confirmed or ruled out either one of those,” Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said Monday.
Police are looking for a second vehicle, either yellow or white, that was reported being in the area at the time of the crash, he said. On Monday investigators took detailed measurements at the crash scene and collected other evidence.
Collision investigations often take weeks to complete, as investigators use computers to calculate vehicle speeds and re-create the circumstances that caused the crash.
On Monday, friends and relatives mourned the girl whose young life ended. They made preparations to say final goodbyes in a memorial service tonight and a funeral and burial Wednesday.
Chianne had attended Everett High School and transferred to the Marysville School District about a year ago.
She was a member of the Tulalip Tribes and loved playing basketball, volleyball, hanging out with friends and eating Thai food, her family wrote in an obituary.
“Her dream was to be a fashion designer when she grew up,” the family wrote. “She wanted a Range Rover, which she often spoke about.”
Chianne enrolled in the Teaching &Technical Academy, one of several small learning communities at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, but hadn’t attended classes recently, principal Shawn Stevenson said.
“Those that do remember Chianne shared that she was a great young lady, nice to others, and pleasant to have in class,” he said.
Her boyfriend was listed in satisfactory condition on Monday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Discussion of the crash, the first vehicle accident to take a teenager’s life in Snohomish County this year, filled an Internet forum devoted to street races in the Pacific Northwest.
Street racing occurs all over, said Penny Nerup, a spokeswoman for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
There were 35 deaths statewide between 2001 and 2007 attributed to street racing, national statistics show.
“The faster you go, the more likely you are to be in a crash,” Nerup said. “The faster you go, the more likely you are if you’re in a crash to be killed or fatally injured.”
Street racing either begins spontaneously or occurs at loosely organized events with spectators.
Illegal races, complete with spectators, have taken place in the past on Ebey Island and on the U.S. 2 trestle, Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said.
“It’s not something that we’re seeing a lot of right now,” he said.
Most street racing happens on the way to the store, or just driving around, said Bryan Harrison, who runs Evo Street Racers, an Internet site devoted to promoting legal and safe racing.
“It’s very difficult to deter it,” he said. “It just happens. Literally you need police all over.”
Street races, often glamorized in Hollywood films including the “Fast and the Furious,” can happen anywhere, anytime. Modern cars are powerful and even basic models accelerate quickly, Harrison said.
Street racers have been known to sink thousands of dollars to improve their engines, adding extra horsepower and pickup, said Ken Peak, a University of Nevada professor of criminal justice, who studies street racing.
Some areas have passed strict laws to try to crack down on the problem. In Australia, police confiscate vehicles caught racing and crush them in front of school children, he said. In other regions, including the city of Kent, in King County, spectators can be ticketed as well as drivers.
Other jurisdictions have worked with business owners to install speed bumps in parking lots and post “no trespassing” signs, Peak said.
It’s hard to get a true handle on the problem, but one thing is clear.
“It’s fair to say it’s a young person’s game,” he said. “It is a very serious problem around the world.”
Arlene Greenspan, a scientist who studies teenage driving for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said young people crash more and have higher fatality rates than adults.
Young adults often are thrill seekers, are easily influenced by their peers and are impulsive, she said. Their minds and bodies are still developing and maturing.
“Their risk is compounded by their lack of experience,” she said.
Anyone with information about Saturday’s crash is encouraged to call the Everett Police Department tip line at 425-257-8450.
Herald writers Kaitlin Manry and Katya Yefimova contributed to this report.
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
