Teen driver wasn’t wearing seat belt in fatal crash

A high school student who died in a Newport Beach traffic collision last month wasn’t wearing his seat belt when the SUV he was driving crashed into another car, throwing him out of the vehicle, police said.

Tuesday, investigators released that and other new details about the crash that killed 17-year-old Spencer Becker on June 23.

Becker caused the crash when he sped through a red light at Jamboree Road and Bristol Street, police said.

Authorities earlier had said Becker was driving east on Bristol in a Chevrolet Suburban around 10:20 a.m. when he collided with a Toyota Corolla headed north on Jamboree.

The SUV was traveling “at a high rate of speed” before the crash, said Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella.

Becker, the only one in the SUV, was ejected from the vehicle and died later that day at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Nobody in the Corolla was seriously hurt, authorities said.

At the time of the crash, Becker had a clean driving record, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Becker, a Newport Coast resident, was a junior at Mater Dei High School, a private school in Santa Ana, where he played varsity volleyball.

Upon hearing of the crash and Becker’s death, mourners built a memorial of flowers, candles and notes on a sidewalk along Jamboree. The next day, dozens of people joined Becker’s family at the Newport Beach Pier, where they paddled out into the waves in his memory.

Classmates described Becker as someone who seized life, was always ready for an adventure at the beach or elsewhere, and lived to make others laugh.