The crash that killed Tina Turcotte was preventable.

That it happened is a failure of the courts, police and the state. Period.

On Aug. 5, Scott Hewitt, 32, was driving a tractor-trailer that collided with Turcotte’s car in Hallowell. At the time, Hewitt’s driver’s license was suspended and he had warrants out for his arrest.

Hewitt’s driving record is a shocking example of disregard for traffic laws and safety. In his young life, the professional driver had already racked up 42 convictions, had his license suspended 19 times and was involved in another fatal crash 11 years ago.

He had been stopped by New York police the day before the fatal accident. But, for some reason, he wasn’t arrested or even detained. Six hundred miles later, a woman died.

At news of Hewitt’s lengthy record, state leaders have jumped on the problem of criminal drivers. Gov. Baldacci has formed a task force, which includes the state police, secretary of state and transportation commissioner, to review the accident and make recommendations for new laws to strengthen enforcement.

Former Secretary of State and current state Sen. Bill Diamond told the Sun Journal that “Maine drivers are dodging bullets every day with these types of records. … This is not just a freak accident here.”

Why did it take a fatality to draw attention to this issue? From the reaction and from repeated examples of habitual offenders being involved in crashes, state leaders have been aware of the problem. And certainly officials should know when a driver has 42 convictions. A record like that should jump out.

The secretary of state estimates that of Maine’s 800,000 drivers, about 3 percent, have between 10 and 14 driving convictions and 4.5 percent – about 36,000 drivers – have had their license suspended five or more times.

We’ve got to start taking this more seriously.

State police say they don’t have the resources to track down everyone with an outstanding warrant. OK, but they’re not the only cops in the state. Law enforcement is able to track down families who fail to renew their dogs’ licenses; they sure should have time to arrest dangerous drivers who fail to show up in court, as Hewitt did in April.

The process must be extremely frustrating for police. They pull someone over time and again, and nothing happens. The driver keeps on driving. They’ve got to be asking themselves, “What good does it do?”

It’s a question of priorities.

Given a choice about what’s more dangerous to the public, a guy growing 20 pot plants in the woods behind his house, an unlicensed dog or the driver of an 80,000-pound lethal weapon who’s wanted on an outstanding warrant and already has dozens of other driving convictions and a death on his hands, we know what most people would say.

Enforcement needs to reflect that common sense. Driving to work, school or the beach shouldn’t be about “dodging bullets” fired by habitually bad drivers. Tina Turcotte didn’t have to die. It was no “accident” and could have been prevented.