Jacob Owens didn't get a second chance. After a night of drinking, he got into the driver's seat of a car and crashed into a tree. Despite the best efforts of the members of the Mercy San Juan Medical Center trauma unit, he did not survive. He was 21 years old.

Many drunken drivers get a second, third, and even hundredth chance — which increases the likelihood that they will cause a fatality.

"There is research that says for every time someone is arrested for drunk driving, they had actually driven drunk 200 times before that," Dr. Leon Owens said.

Determined to change these lethal odds, Owens dove headfirst into research. He is the director of the Mercy San Juan Medical Center Trauma Program and a clinical professor of surgery at the University of California Davis School of Medicine. He had the best motivation, and the worst: His son, Jacob, was the one who died in 2002. His brother, Mark Owens, was the surgeon who worked to save Jacob in the trauma unit. Mark didn't recognize him as his nephew until he was identified later.

Leon Owens founded the website www.every37.com and created the Teachable Moment Foundation. He also spent years doing research and meeting with lawmakers to change existing laws that punish drunken drivers.

Owens approached state Sen. Dave Cox and persuaded him to author Senate Bill 547. Assemblyman Dave Jones co-authored the bill, which was passed Aug. 18, 2005, and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 2, 2005.

The bill required that from Jan. 1, 2009 until Jan. 1, 2010, the cars of repeat DUI offenders be impounded for 30 days as part of a pilot program in Sacramento. In addition to having their vehicles impounded, offenders could participate in an intervention program after being released from jail.

The law still is in effect, even though Jan. 1 has passed. Owens is reaching out to finance the additional costs for impounding vehicles and continuing the motivational interviews, which are a part of the intervention program, through private donors and the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The Teachable Moment Foundation provides an intervention that breaks the pattern of drunken driving. Sacramento was chosen as the test ground for this program.

The city is an apt choice. In 2007, Sacramento ranked No. 1 in collisions among cities over 250,000 population in California.

The University of California at Davis School of Medicine, University of Michigan School of Public Health and local law enforcement agencies have pooled their resources to implement SB 547 and make the Teachable Moment Foundation a success.

The foundation focuses on reaching those with drinking problems immediately after their release from jail. This is when they're most vulnerable and most willing to discuss their substance abuse problems. A questionnaire and motivational interview are offered when the offender is released from jail and participation is voluntary.

Researchers are continuing to gather interviews until they have 800. With 750 in hand, Owens said he expects to be done by late March. Follow-up questionnaires will monitor the progress of the drunken drivers at intervals of six months and a year after the motivational interviews.

The University of Michigan School of Public Health will evaluate the final data from the motivational interviews by 2011.

Dave Cropp, a clinician who conducts motivational interviews at the Sacramento County Jail, described the process.

"The teachable moment is when there is vulnerability," Cropp said. "Drivers have had their cars towed and impounded, they’ve been in jail for a few hours and during that period they’ve hopefully gotten some sense of reticence."

The interviews are conducted in a room with the interviewer on one side of a Plexiglas window and the interviewee on the other. Communication is via a telephone. Interviews last 30 to 40 minutes, with some longer if there are “underlying issues” that come up in the interview, Cropp said.

The process is explained and arrestees are asked if they’d like to volunteer. Once they’ve agreed, they are asked a series of demographic questions.

"(People) don't like to be told about their problems or their (deficiencies)," Cropp said. "We tend to naturally resist when somebody’s pointing out our problems, and we try to justify it."

Motivational interviewing is designed to anticipate this resistance, he said. The technique is designed to allow drunken drivers to come up with how they need to change their lives rather than the interviewer telling them.

Not many questions are asked, Cropp said. It’s not a confrontational therapy. Instead, reflective listening is used. Interviewers are listening for what is meant, not necessarily what is said.

"For example, if people tell me, 'I just made a mistake. I really don’t have a problem,' " Cropp said, "rather than mirroring back exactly what they just told me, a reflective listening response would be for me to suggest to them a statement such as 'Nobody’s really concerned about this arrest. You’re not concerned about this arrest. There’s really no problem, no risk. This is more of an inconvenience than a problem.' "

This technique allows them to reflect, he added, and to see the contradictions in their statements.

Before the interview is over, interviewers ask offenders to rate how motivated and committed they are to making these changes on a scale from one to 10, with 10 being the most motivated, Cropp said.

If someone rates him or herself as an eight or a nine, the interviewer asks why the rating wasn't lower. "(We know) that if we suggested that they should be a 10 they would resist and rationalize why they should only be a seven, eight or nine," Cropp said. "We do just the opposite. They resist the suggestion of rating themselves lower by saying, 'I’m very motivated. This is why I’m a nine or a 10.’ And then we reinforce that concept."

The ideas and motivation come from them. The goal is to encourage arrestees to identify those areas that they need to change in order to keep them from more DUI arrests.

"I’ve had so many people thank me," Cropp said. "People tell me there’s a reason for this and there was a reason that they were arrested this time. There was a reason that I was brought to them to help them work through some of these issues."

Many people worry about the moral implications of their actions, he added. They are so thankful that they didn't hurt anyone. Many of them are afraid to tell their spouses, children or parents.

Cropp said he's been very impressed with participants' sincerity. "One way I can judge their sincerity is when we confirm their address to send them follow-up questionnaires at six months and 12 months."

"A lot of times when people are arrested and the police officers ask for personal information, it’s not uncommon for people to give (false) information. I’ll say the address I have for them, and if it’s incorrect in any way, they’ll immediately clarify any bad information and give us the right information."

Cropp said being a motivational interviewer is very rewarding.

"I’ve interviewed validated gangsters," he said. "Once that façade drops and dissolves, I see in front of me a person who really wants to make a difference. I’ve had them break down and cry. And yeah, it’s very rewarding."

Photos courtesy of Abbey Borstad and every37.com

Image 1 Second Saturday crashed car. July 11, 2009

Image 2 Second Saturday booth. July 11, 2009

Image 3 Crashed car at SAMMIES Awards. June 27, 2009

Image 4 Dr. Leon Owens at the press conference to launch every37.com. December 2008.

Image 5 Second Saturday crashed car. May 9, 2009