Posted on 06/13/2013 5:45:08 AM PDT by rawhide
An alert guide dog saved a California man and woman on Monday from an out-of-control vehicle swerving backward down a public sidewalk at high speed.
Todd Jurek and Danielle Alvarado are both employees of Guide Dogs for the Blind, a company that trains service dogs to assist visually impaired individuals. They were taking a O’Neil, an 18-month-old Labrador retriever, out for a training walk in San Rafael, Calif., on Monday morning when the near-death experience occurred.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that a 93-year-old woman was reportedly trying to parallel park her vehicle when she lost control and began driving the car in reverse, smashing a store window.
"It was just an unbelievable sight to see something going backwards, barreling down the sidewalk," Jurek told the paper.
Jurek and Alvarado, who was blindfolded as part of the exercise, did not see the car barreling down the sidewalk behind them. But O’Neil sensed something was going on and jerked his head backward. The motion caught Jurek’s attention who then also looked backward just in time to see the car.
The entire incident was captured on a security camera from a local business.
"He probably heard the commotion before the window popped," Jurek said of O’Neil’s timely response.
Amazingly, no one was hurt in the incident, including the driver, who reportedly hit a street bench and stop light before coming to a stop.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Video at link.
“The San Jose Mercury News reports that a 93-year-old woman was reportedly trying to parallel park her vehicle when she lost control and began driving the car in reverse...”
Hmmm...
“The San Jose Mercury News reports that a 93-year-old woman was reportedly trying to parallel park her vehicle when she lost control of her mind and slammed on the gas when she thought she was slamming the brake...”
Fixed it.
Access to a car is everything in the U.S. My father began (illegally) driving at the age of thirteen. He helped to feed his family during the Great Depression by working for a local grocer delivering groceries in a pickup truck specially rigged for him. The day he became incapacitated by a stroke and too old to drive anymore, he handed me his car keys, and never sat behind the wheel of a car again. He was devastated by it, but knew the potential consequences of continuing to drive.
A 93 year old woman..that says it all right there....
Yes, ‘Youngman’ obvious, you too will be old someday.
For the ping list.
Good doggie! Who’s a good doggie? You’re a good doggie! Yes you are! Yes you are!
Before that her car used to get those mystery dents which she would have no idea how they occurred. One time a Police Officer followed her home and told her she had hit a mailbox. She still claims the copy was wrong.
To this day she hasn’t forgiven her sons for taking away her car. Our consolation is knowing that other people on the roads are a little safer now.
My 89 year-old MIL drove into a parked 18- wheeler in a parking lot she didn’t see. Although it was driveable, her car was totaled by the insurance company. She wanted to keep driving it until I asked her if she could see a trailer truck how likely is it that she wouldn’t see a 10 year-old? She never drove again.
This is California. They regularly renew licenses for the aged for long terms. My 99 year old mother gave up driving at 98 in 2012, but her license was good until 2015.
When questioned, she defensively claimed that she had “lots of friends” who were driving at 106.
Not just California....my mother, when taking her first drivers test in Wisconsin...backed into a pole in the parking lot. The idiot gave her her license. As the poster above said, she too had mystery dents in her car.
No, she’s not driving now. No more car. And she is very mad at my brother for “stealing” her car. (no, he didn’t steal it!)
???
If she was trying to parallel park, indeed she was probably already in reverse. She just either hit the wrong pedal or didn’t hit it at all.
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