Road rage. That's a good way to describe how people feel about a habitual offender being at the wheel in a wreck that killed six people.

Four young lives -- teenagers -- were snuffed out way too early. A young man and his wife, known for their early contributions to society, also were taken away. In an instant many Bluffton, Hilton Head Island and Pineland family members, co-workers and schoolmates were changed forever. But it appears the tragedy was building for a while for the 20-year-old accused of causing the fiery wreck April 30 in the Levy community between Bluffton and Savannah.

He was labeled a habitual offender by the judicial system, meaning he had an alarming, dangerous number of violations. Indeed, his license to drive had been suspended about a dozen times.

This young man, Raymond Kelly Jr., has not yet had his day in court. He may be innocent, but he is charged with six counts of felony driving under the influence, two counts of felony child endangerment, four counts of driving under suspension, one count of violation of the Habitual Offender Act and one count of simple possession of marijuana in connection with the fatal wreck. He is in jail on a $350,000 bond.

People see this and shake their heads. Yeah, they say, now they throw the book at him. Where were they before? Surely, they saw this coming. What does a person have to do to get thrown in jail around here?

Those questions need to be answered in court if the case goes that far. A judge ought to take time to explain to the bereaved parents, and to the full community, how every previous charge against this suspect was handled by the criminal justice system. He had many run-ins with authorities, to the point that at the time of the wreck, Kelly would not have been able to legally drive until at least 2008.

No matter what happens with the charges against Kelly, the incident raises questions about the system. Even if it is determined this wreck was not his fault, questions will remain.

At some point, shouldn't someone acknowledge that suspensions aren't having the desired effect and perhaps a jail term would? Could a court make habitual offenders wear an electronic band to keep track of them? Are law enforcement agencies and courts communicating well enough? These questions, and any others the survivors may have, should be answered publicly.

In the end, the story may well be that people with no respect for the law will ignore all punishments and penalties and do as they please. Even if jail time is the answer, very few people are locked up forever.

So it falls to law enforcement officers to catch suspended drivers behind the wheel.

It is on this point that society definitely can do more. The thin blue line of law enforcement is too thin.

While vehicle registration numbers have been going up, as well as the number of tourists arriving by vehicle, the number of S.C. Highway Patrol troopers has been shrinking. It makes no sense. Even with the boost next year's state budget gives to law enforcement, with an increase of some 400 officers in several different agencies, a big deficit remains.

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, whose deputies have many more duties than enforcing traffic laws, notes that in 1994, there were 19 state troopers assigned to Beaufort County. Today, there are 17 in both Beaufort and Jasper counties combined, he said.

Ways to prevent this community tragedy can be examined for years. It can be dissected realistically and theoretically. Realistically, there always will be time bombs behind the wheel on the highway. But there also could and should be enough troopers to keep up with growth, at the very least. Theoretically, that would increase the chances that a time bomb is diffused before it is too late.