By Dennis Box-The Courier-Herald

The summer of 2007 may have set a record, not for high temperatures or sunny days, but for the number of teenage and young adult deaths caused from car accidents on the Plateau.

From Bonney Lake to Enumclaw there have been six fatalities and several other accidents resulting in serious injuries, and many of them were caused by the deadliest of combinations - teenagers using alcohol and driving at high speeds.

One shocking accident occurred Aug. 2 when a 17-year-old boy, driving too fast and allegedly drunk, blew through the intersection of Sumner-Buckley Highway and 214th Avenue East hitting a vehicle driven by 19-year-old Timothy Beau Bockman, killing him.

There were teenage passengers riding with the 17-year-old boy who were injured, but not fatally.

The accident occurred about 2 a.m. Bockman had finished work at The Rock, a pizza restaurant on Lake Tapps Highway, and he had gone to spend time with friends Shayna Barry and Taylor Meehan.

Barry, 20 years old and a close friend of Bockman, said she and Meehan were the last to see him alive.

A tearful Barry visited a roadside memorial Aug. 24 at the intersection where Bockman died and talked about how her life had changed since the accident.

&#8220This is a huge wake-up call for all of us,” Barry said. &#8220Everyone drives home at 2 in the morning. All of us drive to Top Foods to get something to eat. It could have been any of us. Maybe Beau had to sacrifice his life for us to learn a lesson.”

Barry said Bockman and the boy who hit him were &#8220innocent kids. We all have to live by Beau now. I know he's up there looking out for us.”

Bonney Lake Police Chief Mike Mitchell, who took over as chief about a year ago, said he was alarmed by the deaths over the summer. Mitchell said he was on the Mountlake Terrace police force 15 years and never saw a string of fatal accidents like this summer.

&#8220This is not acceptable,” Mitchell said. &#8220I don't know it if it will take more education, more enforcement or a combination, but we have to do something. Not just the police department, but the whole community.”

Bryan Jeter, who was raised in Buckley and served as the police chief of Bonney Lake for about four years, said he could not remember a summer with so many deaths.

The fatalities have law enforcement, parents and community members shaking their heads in disbelief, trying to come to grips with a solution for the problem.

Fred Wist, Pierce County Juvenile Division prosecutor, has seen the problem from every angle. A Pierce County Sheriff's deputy cited the driver of the car that killed Bockman for vehicular homicide.

Wist said the charges have not yet been filed by the prosecutor's office.

&#8220These kind of cases are a tragedy for everyone,” Wist said. &#8220It affects so many lives - friends, family. I'm not sure what we can do to try and prevent this. Somehow, someone has to get the message across to these kids how serious a responsibility driving is. It is a privilege, not a right, and it is a serious responsibility.

&#8220These accidents happen so quickly, but these kids are capable of making a choice.”

School districts also struggle with the message of drinking and driving.

Sumner School District spokeswoman Ann Cook pointed out when teenagers drink alcohol, &#8220there is always a complicit adult involved. That's one of the messages we are taking to parents. When teenage alcohol abuse is involved, somewhere there is a complicit adult.”

The school district has put programs together to help parents gain knowledge about teen drinking and drug abuse, but getting parents and their children connected on the issue is a daunting task at best.

Enumclaw Police Department Commander Eric Sortland put it plainly when he said, &#8220teenage drivers and drinking are a deadly combination. Drinking and driving is deadly regardless of the age, and teenagers are already inexperienced drivers.”

The Pierce County Sheriff's Department has had its hands full this summer with fatal accidents caused by teenagers driving intoxicated.

&#8220There have been too many horrific accidents,” department spokesman Ed Troyer said. &#8220Kids have to understand driving is a privilege. You must earn it. Don't get into a car with a drunk driver; don't drive drunk. Call your mom and dad. There can't be a parent in the world that would fault their kid for that. Call your mom and dad.”

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.