FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — Having a valid driver's license is something that many like myself take for granted on a daily basis.
In Forsyth County, there are tens of thousands of people whose licenses are suspended for various reasons (unpaid seat belt tickets or missed court dates).
To give you a better figure, in Forsyth County, there are 57,000 people with suspended licenses. So the city of Winston-Salem and the District Attorney's office are now teaming up to help shrink that number.
We went out to Winston-Salem and talked to the county's District Attorney Jim O'Neil to learn more about how the county is trying to help its citizens.
"A lot of people are driving around and don't even know their license is revoked. But it's usually for an unpaid ticket, sometimes people just forget about it, sometimes they can't afford it," he said.
O'Neil and members of the Winston-Salem community, like Bishop Todd Fulton, came up with Operation DRIVE to help get drivers back on the road.
"When you lose your license because you don't pay your seatbelt ticket or something along those lines. Every time you get caught your license gets revoked for another three years. I describe it as being caught in the spin cycle of the washing machine. You're just caught and you can't get out. So we like to reach in that washing machine and help folks get themselves out and give folks a fresh start at life and a fresh chance" O'Neil said.
If you live in Forsyth County and would like to apply for operation DRIVE, you can go to the courthouse and fill out an application in person, or you can fill out the application here.