A popular pastime leads to death all too often.

The fiery car crash that killed 22-year-old Kandice Hutchison from MTV's "A Double Shot at Love" in October was allegedly caused by street racing, police said yesterday.

This is just the latest in a long line of fatal street racing accidents.

• Andrew Nemecek, 19, pled guilty to accidentally killing girlfriend Amanda McLeod in a street racing accident. Both kids were driving nearly 100 mph when McLeod, 20, crashed and flipped her car after swerving to avoid another vehicle that pulled out onto the road ahead of her. She was thrown from her car and died five days later.

• Five-year-old Jordan McLean of Queens was thrown from his aunt's SUV and killed after their car was struck by street racers. After colliding with the victim's car, the street racers fled the scene.  

• John M. Wilcox, 17, whose street race led to the death of his best friend, was sentenced to 11 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter. Court records show both boys were racing against another teen when a six-ton Ford dump truck going the opposite direction turned in front of them. The boys swerved and crashed into a light pole. Wilcox slammed into the back of the dump truck and spun around 180 degrees. 

• Last July, Michelle Arout, 17, was riding in the back of a car with a teen driver who was street racing against another teen. The two cars collided while driving 90 miles per hour, causing the car Michelle was riding in to swerve off the road and crash. The impact sliced the vehicle in half and ejected Michelle from the back seat.

• Later that day, a young man and woman were killed when their car crashed into a utility pole in a suburb of Buffalo, NY. Police suspect they were involved in a street race at the time of the accident.

Street racing is gaining popularity, especially among young people and teens. According to the National Traffic Safety Administration, car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers. Teen drivers are in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers and more than 7,000 teens die annually in traffic crashes.

This problem is so rampant that earlier this year, the New York State Senate introduced SAFE-TEEN New York, legislation designed to keep New York's younger, less experienced drivers safe and to prevent street racing accidents. The bill proposes to increase the penalties for street racing from a misdemeanor offense to a felony and requires parents to attend court appearances when teen drivers are issued traffic violations. 

Clearly things are improving, but what can parents do at home to prevent their kid from street racing?

"For many teens -- particularly males -- street racing has always served as a rite of passage," says David Huff, Chairman of Driver Education and Training Administrators in Montana. "When kids get on the road for the first time, not only do they often forego their seat belts, but they drive fast to assert their independence."  

And the media perpetuates this type of behavior. (Remember "The Fast and the Furious?") "There was an increase in street racing after the release of some of these films." Huff says. "And where you live doesn't affect the frequency of this behavior. It happens on the rural roads of Montana and the urban streets of Los Angeles."

Given the fact you won't be with your teen 24/7, what can you do to ensure he or she won't drive dangerously? "Drive cams are a great device and a way for parents to keep tabs on their kids in a non-invasive way," Huff says. 

Here's how it works: You simply mount the cam on your teen's rear view mirror and it films everything that's going on in the car. When there's a sudden acceleration, an alert is downloaded to your computer server. It may not stop your kid in the moment, but if he knows he's being filmed, the odds of him participating in reckless driving will most likely decrease.

"You can also plug a key fob into your kid's car to record how many miles were traveled and at what speed," Huff suggests. "When your child gets home, they hand you the key fob and you'll get a read-out." And if your kid ditches the key fob and then retrieves it before coming home? The device will flash an error screen -- a red flag he was joy riding. 

The most practical advice: "Studies show that when parents actively supervise their kids in the early stages of driving, their kids are simply better drivers," Huff says. 

See Also:

• Texting and Driving Deadly for Teens
• Driving Drunk with Your Kid: Not a Crime?
• Allstate: Teen Drivers in Good Hands