Unlicensed drivers must be treated as serious criminals

Unlicensed drivers must be treated as serious criminals

Over the years we have written editorials arguing that some courts do not take a sufficiently serious approach to dealing with criminals who continue to get behind the wheel after their driver’s licenses have been suspended.

We will acknowledge that in the hierarchy of criminals, those who drive without licenses reside on the lower scales. They are not robbers or rapists, but the more time they spend behind the wheel, the greater the chance that they will become killers.

As we have pointed out in the past, ignoring unlicensed scofflaws reduces the quality of life for everyone. Simply put, an unlicensed driver is not only a driver with a history of unsafe operation, he is also an uninsured driver. And so, every law-abiding driver who has the misfortune of scraping fenders with an unlicensed driver is bound to lose. It is, we have argued, the responsibility of the courts to treat drivers who are habitually arrested for driving without a license very much as we would like to see habitual drunken drivers treated — that is put in jail.

In Mahoning County, that is easier said than done, since the county jail is prohibited by court order from housing more prisoners than it is designed or staffed to accommodate. Among those prone to receive early release are traffic offenders.

Exceptions are in order

But sometimes a traffic offender has such a record of contempt for law and society that an exception should be made and he should be kept behind bars in at least the hope that he will learn a lesson.

Such a driver is Charles George, 40, who had amassed a long list of license suspensions and a corresponding string of arrests for driving without a license or driving under suspension.

George is now facing serious jail time — and a possible lifetime of guilt — after being arrested for driving a van that overturned during a police chase in Youngstown.

George survived virtually unscathed, but a passenger in the van, N’Deya Davis, age 4, was thrown from the vehicle and killed instantly. George now faces vehicular manslaughter charges, as well as child endangerment and fleeing police counts. It is encouraging that an accomplice to the crime, the owner of the vehicle, has also been charged. Rosemary Lee, 35, of Youngstown is accused of unlawful entrustment for allowing use of her vehicle by an unlicensed driver.

That sends a message to those who would enable unlicensed drivers that they should be careful about whom they allow behind the wheel of their cars.

The death of a child is an extreme and painful example of the damage that can be done by unlicensed drivers. Perhaps, at least for a while, area courts will treat other scofflaws as the criminals that they are, and the county jail will make a cell available for a few days for those who would follow in the footsteps of Charles George. A short time in jail now might save someone from spending years in the penitentiary later — and might save a life or two.