Troopers: Street racing too common among teen drivers
Illegal street races have resulted in the deaths of three Orange County teens in the last 17 months, and authorities said Thursday that races are far too common, especially among teen drivers.
Posted — UpdatedLast month, Desmond Piccini, 16, of Mebane, died when his car hit a rock wall along Lebanon Road near Mebane and flipped.
The State Highway Patrol said Piccini was racing at the time. On Wednesday, they filed racing charges against Kameron Clevenger, 19, of 500 Stonewall Drive in Mebane, and Pavel Jones, 18, of 506 S. Fourth St. in Mebane.
A passenger in Piccini's car, McCray Williams, 16, of 1426 Payne Road in Graham, was charged with aiding and abetting a pre-arranged speed competition.
Williams also survived an illegal race on Dec. 29, 2012, that killed William Daniel Chase Underhill, 16, of Durham, and Kacie Leann Chamberlain, 16, of Rougemont. Troopers said Underhill lost control of his pickup on Little River Church Road in the Hurdle Mills community in northern Orange County and hit a tree.
Williams said Thursday that Piccini and Clevenger weren't racing last month and were only being teenagers.
Trooper Michael Baker said teens are more likely to race than older drivers.
"In the day and age that we live in, with all the electronic tech (dashboard) displays, racing is a very thrill-seeking event," Baker said. "Teens don't have the driving history to understand how easy it is to be hurt or killed by a motor vehicle."
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