The accidental deaths earlier this month of a 17-year-old boy and the young man charged with his care and the injuries to six other boys — all in a vehicle that plunged into a canal — were as unnecessary as they are tragic. The boys had no choice in this matter; they were delinquent kids in state custody, placed in a private school.

The driver, Johnson Atilard, 25, had incurred 18 traffic tickets in five years plus a charge to which he pleaded no contest of giving alcohol to a minor. Yet, AMIkids, a contractor to the state Department of Juvenile Justice, allowed seven boys to drive with him to an event in the Everglades with a return late at night. Mr. Atilard lost control of his Ford Expedition and crashed into a sign before the SUV drove into the murky water.

Mr. Atilard of Cape Coral and Daniel Huerta of Bonita Springs lost their lives. The other boys were treated for injuries considered non-life threatening.

Yet, when Mr. Atilard was hired he mentioned few of his violations on his April 2010 application. In February, apparently, the company had discovered his less-than-stellar record and told him by memo he was not to drive any company vehicle or to drive the boys in his own car. Seems he wouldn’t be covered by the company insurance policy and driving kids would open it to “great liability.”

Although the memo expressed hope that he would qualify as a driver when a three-year window on some of his violations lapsed, he received five more tickets afterward.

On his record were multiple charges of speeding plus hit-and-run, running a light, driving on the wrong side of the road, making an improper turn as well as “unknowingly” driving on a suspended license. One wonders why Mr. Atilard with this record could not know his license was suspended, indeed, why it had not revoked.

How then did seven of the 35 boys at the Big Cypress Wilderness Institute end up in his SUV?

AMIkids’ roots go back to 1969 and the Florida Ocean Sciences Institute, first based at Florida Atlantic University. FOSI broke the mold of harsh treatment of juvenile offenders by offering troubled kids a structured program of education and meaningful work on marine environmental issues.

This grew into AMIkids, which now has 50 residential and day treatment programs in nine states. The Big Cypress institute is based in Ochopee in the middle of the Big Cypress Swamp, a national preserve. A non-secure center for boys deemed at “moderate risk,” it follows the FOSI model, with environmental work, this time in the Everglades.

DJJ rates its work as “acceptable,” a middling score. Mr. Atilard’s work review found him “hardworking” and “dedicated.”

It might be tempting to say that AMIkids simply had two lapses — a failure to investigate his background thoroughly and a failure to communicate to all staff that he was not to drive the youth in its care.

But DJJ has a higher obligation to children whom it has taken into custody. It should both ensure its investigation of this incident is complete and also that the backgrounds and driving records of all adults who have contact with children have been verified and safeguards enforced.