Three girls piled into Michael Spain's Camaro for a trip to get their lips pierced.

But along the way Tuesday night, a challenge to race might have led to a crash that added the girls' names to a tragic list of people who have perished on Orange County roads in August -- on pace to be the year's deadliest month.

Ashley Sprayberry, 17, of Orlando, who loved animals and worked in an Orlando pet-care store.

Jessica Hattin, 15, of Orlando, a soon-to-be sophomore who lived with her grandparents.

Crystal Dickerson, 18, of Orlando, the protector of the group who worked at a Chinese restaurant in the Florida Mall.

"They were really close," Jessica Sloniger, a friend of the girls who knew each other from Oak Ridge High School, said Wednesday.

So far this month, traffic crashes in Orange have claimed 17 lives. March, when 20 people died on local roads, is the worst in 2007.

Contributing to August's high number: Tuesday's crash on John Young Parkway is the second incident in a week involving multiple deaths. On Aug. 7, four people, including a boy less than a year old, died when their car was hit by a vehicle that ran a red light at North Lane and Pine Hills Road.

"We know we have seat-belt issues," Trooper Kim Miller of the Florida Highway Patrol said. "We have people getting ejected all over the place. That crash in Pine Hills -- no one was wearing seat belts."

Two of the young women who died in Tuesday's crash also weren't using seat belts, investigators said.

Shortly before 11 p.m., Spain, 18, of Orlando gripped the wheel of his 2001 Camaro as the group headed north on the parkway.

Sloniger said another driver raced up and challenged Spain, who she said was an avid car fan who liked to go fast. One of the accident victims' sisters, who was in a car following the Camaro, saw the confrontation that led Spain to reach speeds up to 100 mph, she said.

"The guy went by and hollered at the girls, revving his engine," Sloniger said.

Spain tried to pass another car as he raced but clipped a tire, causing him to veer across the median into oncoming traffic about a mile south of Sand Lake Road, Sloniger said. The Camaro slammed into a four-door Lincoln driven by 44-year-old Christopher Lewis, who was on his way home to Kissimmee from work.

Lewis, who was wearing a seat belt, was taken by helicopter to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was treated for internal injuries and a broken arm, said Payge Quigg, a friend of his wife, Catherine.

Dickerson, Hattin and Spain, who suffered serious injuries, were not wearing seat belts and were thrown from the car. Sprayberry was wearing a seat belt, according to the FHP.

FHP troopers could not confirm accounts of a race, but they are considering both speed and alcohol as possible factors in the accident. No charges have been filed. Investigators are still looking for witnesses who can help piece together what led to the crash, Miller said.

Although August has been particularly deadly in Orange County, authorities say it's too early to spot the reason -- if there is one.

Statewide, fatal crashes are down overall -- at nearly 2,000 -- compared with last year at this time, when the total was nearly 2,100, according to preliminary FHP figures.

So far this year, 120 people have died in Orange County, which is about 16 more than the same time last year. In Seminole County, 31 people have died, compared with 24 last year. Volusia County has had 72, compared with 79 during the same time last year. Osceola County is down with 34, compared with 41 last year.

Sgt. Andy Brennan of Orlando police's traffic-homicide unit said simple habits by drivers -- wearing seat belts, yielding to other vehicles and wearing helmets while riding motorcycles -- can reduce the toll on roads.

"Everyone needs to do whatever they can to be safe," he said.

Sarah Lundy and April Hunt
Orlando Sentinel Staff Writers