The Economic and Community Education Department will offer classes with A+ Driving Schools for DUI (Driving under the Influence) at the Chattanooga State Community College Dayton Site, located at 200 Central Ave., beginning on May 15.
Randy Jenkins, certified training instructor at A+ Driving Schools says that the course helps participants learn about risks they can control and risks they can’t control. "This course presents a new way of thinking about, and preventing, alcohol and drug problems. It explores common views about the causes of alcohol problems, research that casts doubt on these common views, and the new view of alcoholism and impairment problems supported by research," he said. "Participants explore the things in life that are most important to them, and learn how their choices either protect or jeopardize those things."
The class utilizes a real life experience of one of the instructors, Corinne Bowker Dobson, to illustrate choices. “Programs like this give people the opportunity to change,” Mr. Jenkins said. “Corinne’s story has touched several people that take the class. I used to show a video about DUI and how it affects people’s lives. I don’t do that anymore, I have Corinne as a living example.”
Ms. Bowker was known by the last name Dobson when the accident happened. “I was going through a divorce and working three jobs,” Ms. Bowker said. “I decided to go out that night and cut loose. I went to a bar in West Knoxville and drank with friends. I usually had a designated driver. I decided to drive that night, and it was a situation where it was a one-time incident. It was not something I did on a regular basis."
Yet one horrible decision changed everything. Ms. Bowker went through a blackout stage, meaning she could not remember anything that happened from the time she left the bar to the time she was at the scene of the accident. “I don’t remember paying the tab at the bar,” she said. “I don’t remember leaving the parking lot. The next thing I remembered was being on the side of the interstate in my truck, with shattered glass around me,” recalled Ms. Bowker.
The accident occurred around 3 a.m. on a Saturday. According to an article by the Knoxville News Sentinel on July 25, 2011, two pedestrians were struck by Ms. Bowker’s vehicle. Richard Eugene Sage, 25, was pronounced dead at the scene. Joseph Eugene Russell was taken to Parkwest Hospital with a broken left arm. Ms. Bowker’s Ford Ranger struck the two men when the truck crossed the shoulder on I-40 eastbound just before the exit ramp for Walker Springs.
The accident touched every aspect of Ms. Bowker’s life. “It was on every television station,” she said. “Everything was in purgatory for the next year. It was always on my mind. I didn’t know how things were going to turn out, or how bad it was going to hurt those around me.
“I lost one of my jobs, and I was in counseling every day just to cope. It hurt so much to see my parents write checks and go in debt for legal fees because of the tragic decision I made.”
It took eight months for charges to be filed against Ms. Bowker. The four charges were vehicular manslaughter, vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, and DUI.
Before sentencing, Ms. Bowker found things to anchor her through the rocky waters. “I took the class at A+, and discovered I wanted to share my story with others,” Ms. Bowker said. “I also found my church during this time.”
The sentencing was a revelation for Ms. Bowker. “I experienced a ‘God moment’,” she said. “(Sage’s) aunt said she didn’t want the accident to have two victims. I was sentenced to a hundred days in jail, 10 years’ probation and three years with a revoked license.”
Ms. Bowker believes the tragedy has helped her find her purpose in life. “I spoke to Randy after I took the DUI Class,” Ms. Bowker said. “I asked if I could speak to the class, and he agreed.”
"She has been telling her story ever since because she doesn’t want anybody to go through what she went through. It can happen to anybody. Any person can drink and then find himself or herself in an accident," Mr. Jenkins said.
“I want people to know you can be forgiven, and you can forgive yourself. The main message of the Prime for Life program is that a person can change if he/she really wants to. My criminal charges on paper do not define me. I can’t take the past back. I can’t bring anybody back. However, I can be a better person that makes better choices,” said Ms. Bowker.
These classes are mandated by the court system. The Prime for Life Alcohol and Drug class is the State of Tennessee required course for all DUI and possession-related charges in the court system. Those who are charged and convicted of such charges are required to complete this course.
To register for this class on Sunday, May 15 in Dayton, call the Continuing Education Department at 423-697-3100, or visit https://chattanoogastate.xenegrade.com/indexMain.cfm. The cost for the class is $150.