
DATE: Friday, March 7, 1997                 TAG: 9703070076
SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E13  EDITION: FINAL  

SOURCE: BY SARA BAKER, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   83 lines

CORRECTION/CLARIFICATION: * Some type was missing on a text box, ``About DUI convictions,'' in Friday's Daily Break. The last graph should have said: When a person's license is reinstated, insurance rates will about triple for a person convicted of a DUI, said Jerry Etheridge, an agent for State Farm Insurance in Virginia Beach. ``That's a pretty expensive ticket,'' Etheridge said. Correction published Saturday, March 8, 1997. * OUT OF PAIN, A PLEA FOR TAKING RESPONSIBILITY

A DRUNKEN DRIVER in a pickup truck speeds through your front yard at 70 mph. He crashes through your home, runs you over and kills your spouse sleeping in bed next to you. Does that sound like a nightmare?

For Robert ``Bobby'' J. Petrocelli of Chesapeake, it was a real-life nightmare. It happened early one morning in October 1985 in a city just south of Houston, and it changed Bobby's life.

He is now a motivational speaker who travels to schools, conferences and other locations across the country, spreading his message of making the right decisions and avoiding alcohol or drugs.

Bobby wants people to gain three things from his speaking - faith, hope and love.

``Ten seconds can change your life forever,'' Bobby, 36, said recently, echoing the title of a speech he offers to student audiences. When he's in front of a crowd, Bobby tells students that everything they do now will affect them later in life.

Bobby does not speak as a victim but as a victor. ``I overcame this tragedy and did not let what happened to me destroy my life,'' Bobby said.

Bobby has not forgotten what the drunken driver did to him or how his wife was killed, but he has learned to face the situation.

``The drunken driver hurt my life once, but I wasn't going to let him destroy my life again,'' Bobby said. ``I knew that if I worked through it, I could help others.''

Bobby has tried to reach out and inspire others. He has spoken in about 35 states to more than 360,000 people.

Bobby received his inspiration to begin speaking from his second wife and friends. When Bobby spoke at Windsor High School this winter, he spoke from experience, from being a teacher and counselor.

``I talked to them as a real person,'' Bobby said. ``I told them to prepare for success and to start making the right decisions. Whatever you put your time into, that is what you're going to be successful in.''

Bobby wrote the book ``Triumph Over Tragedy'' in 1995. He decided to write it so more people could be touched. The book goes into greater detail than his presentations.

``When people have the book, they have my message with them all the time,'' Bobby said.

The drunken driver who changed Bobby's life forever was sentenced to 10 years in prison but only served four months because he had had no other scrapes with the law and the prisons were overcrowded. Bobby was angry, but he didn't let the anger turn to bitterness.

``Forgiveness is the key,'' Bobby said. ``Unforgiveness destroys. The three greatest words are `I forgive you.''' MEMO: Sara Baker is a junior at Windsor High School. ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT DUI CONVICTIONS

How does losing your drivers' license for six months to a year

sound? How about not getting it back until you are 18? Six months in

jail? About 100 hours of community service? Alcohol rehabilitation

meetings and centers?

A DUI conviction is three points on your driving record plus a 10

percent filing fee. First-time offenders must pay $250 in court

costs and an additional $300 for the required course in the Alcohol

Safety Action Program.

Insurance companies will carry a person convicted of this charge

until renewal, upon which time the policy will be canceled. In

Virginia, it is illegal to drive without automobile insurance, and

people who are convicted of a DUI are not eligible for uninsured