Let’s hope you never run into Michael Whitney or, more likely, he runs into you. The 20-year-old Auburn man is a habitual motor-vehicle offender and should not be driving a car. If you see him doing so, please call police.

That may seem harsh, but Maine needs to find a better way of keeping people like Whitney off its roadways, and more publicity may be part of the answer.

We regularly run court logs in the Sun Journal, a lengthy list of local criminals and their offenses. In yesterday’s paper, 78 names appeared in the log for the 8th District Court in Lewiston.

Of those, 18 people were convicted of driving while their driver’s license was suspended or revoked. Whitney was the only one declared a habitual offender, but none of the others should be behind the wheel, either.

There’s a reason for that. Usually, it’s because they have been convicted of multiple speeding offenses, reckless driving or driving under the influence. They are not just lousy drivers, they are among the most dangerous on the road.

Michael Cournoyer of Auburn was operating one of the two vehicles involved in an accident early Sunday that killed six people. In his short four years of driving, Cournoyer had twice been convicted of driving more than 20 mph over the speed limit and once for driving under the influence. His license was suspended and, while not classified a habitual offender, he did not have a valid license to drive.

Steven Walton, the driver of the second car was driving with a valid license, but had multiple speeding convictions and had twice been reviewed by the state for accidents on his record.

Police have not yet determined whether Cournoyer or the other driver caused the accident. But, the fact remains – Cournoyer was a dangerous driver with a suspended license and should not have been on the road. Had we, as a society, been able to keep him from driving, his life and others might have been saved.

On a rainy, icy night, Cournoyer chose to drive knowing full well that he had been ordered not to.

In April, Maine enacted Tina’s Law, which broadens the use of mandatory minimum sentences and creates a new crime of operating after a habitual offender revocation.

In August, courts were allowed to impose penalties of up to $5,000 and five years in prison on certain habitual offenders who cause an accident in which another person is injured. If a person is killed, a habitual offender who caused the accident can get 10 years in prison and up to $20,000 in fines. That law was enacted after Scott Hewitt of Caribou, driving with a suspended license, rammed into a car operated by Tina Turcotte of Scarborough. Hewitt had more than 60 convictions, 23 license suspensions and had been involved in one other fatal accident 11 years earlier.

Incredibly, Hewitt was seen driving only days after the fatal accident. He didn’t get far. After the widespread publicity over his accident, a neighbor saw him driving and called police. And that may be one of the answers to this scourge. Police and newspapers could work together to run the photos of chronic and habitual offenders. Neighbors and acquaintances could then be on the lookout for these people and call police if they see them driving.

Perhaps the combination of tougher laws and publicity can help end this menace.