[nagdu] Fw: [Njagdu] Disaster averted in downtown SanRafael when Guide Dogstrio escape car on sidewalk -Marin Independent Journal

Wed Jun 12 21:14:49 UTC 2013

Lol.  As I said earlier.  She may not be cumb, but there are a 
lot of tailgaters and horrible crivers out there.  And if people 
would be more careful, lol maybe the wouldn't be so many near 
fatal kills or accidents.  But again, at least the trainer and 
dog
every safe and sound.

Portia.
 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Star Gazer" <pickrellrebecca at gmail.com
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:17:29 -0400
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: [Njagdu] Disaster averted in downtown 
SanRafael	when Guide Dogstrio escape car on sidewalk -Marin	
Independent Journal

She may not be dumb.  She also may not have been aware how bad 
her driving
had gotten.
My grandpa was in a car accident several years back.  He's old 
and the
assumption was that he was too old to be driving.  Turns out the 
car had a
mechanical failure.
I don't know if that was the case here, or if the woman really 
shouldn't be
driving.  Odds are, her family had concerns, but "taking the keys 
away" isn't
as easy as it might seem.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Portia
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 9:20 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: [Njagdu] Disaster averted in downtown 
San Rafael
when Guide Dogstrio escape car on sidewalk - Marin Independent 
Journal

You know, it's lucky that the lady didnt kill others either.  She 
is really
dumb and should gets her license taken and deserves to have 
someone who can
drive drive her around and see how she feels.  It disgusts me 
when people
think they can drive, when they obviously can't.

Portia.

Sent from my iPhone

 On Jun 12, 2013, at 5:54 AM, "Tracy Carcione" 
<carcione at access.net> wrote:

 And here's another version.  I hope ythe old lady is taken off 
the road.

 ----- Original Message -----
 From: Ginger Kutsch
 To: New Jersey Association of Guide Dog Users
 Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 7:53 AM
 Subject: [Njagdu] Disaster averted in downtown San Rafael when 
Guide
 Dogstrio escape car on sidewalk - Marin Independent Journal

 Disaster averted in downtown San Rafael when Guide Dogs trio 
escape
 car on sidewalk - Marin Independent Journal

http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_23439366/disaster-averted-dow
ntown
 -san-rafael-when-guide-dogs

 A mid-morning stroll in downtown San Rafael nearly turned 
disastrous when
a 93-year-old woman drove backward down a sidewalk, narrowly 
missing two
employees and a dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

 "It was just an unbelievable sight to see something going 
backwards,
barreling down the sidewalk," said Todd Jurek, a training 
supervisor for
Guide Dogs for the Blind.  He quickly herded the fellow employee 
and dog out
of harm's way when he noticed the dog jerk its head to look 
behind them.

 The dramatic scene, captured on video by a private security 
camera mounted
on a nearby building, can be viewed at www.marinij.com.

 The incident occurred at about 11:30 a.m.  Monday, when Jurek 
and Danielle
Alvarado, an apprentice instructor, were walking on Fourth Street 
near E
Street with an 18-month-old yellow Labrador retriever, O'Neil.

 Jurek, 48, of Petaluma, said he was spotting Alvarado, who was
blindfolded, and assessing O'Neil's guide dog skills when he 
noticed O'Neil
turn around to look behind him.  When Jurek looked back to see 
what had
caught O'Neil's attention, he saw a black car headed straight for 
them.

 The surveillance video shows the three walking down Fourth and 
then Jurek
running and pushing Alvarado around an E Street corner seconds 
before a
black car speeds backwards down the sidewalk, smashing a store 
window and
finally coming to rest on the opposite corner of Fourth and E 
streets.

 Jurek said he heard the glass window break, but it was O'Neil 
who turned
his head first to see what was happening.

 "He probably heard the commotion before the window popped," 
Jurek said.

 As the car tore down the sidewalk, it hit a city bench, nicked a 
stop
light and barely missed colliding with another car.  Jurek said 
he just
grabbed Alvarado and yelled "go, go, go!" as one of the car's 
doors came off
and pieces of the vehicle flew everywhere.

 "My thought was, is this car going to continue around the corner 
and are
its debris going to fly at us?" Jurek said.

 Miraculously, no one was injured in the incident, including the 
driver and
her passenger, Jurek said.

 San Rafael police Sgt.  Raul Aguilar said the driver of the car, 
a San
Rafael resident, is not suspected of intoxication and did not 
appear to have
a medical emergency before the incident.

 The investigation is continuing, but the preliminary theory is 
that the
woman put the car in reverse instead of forward, and the angle of 
the wheels
sent her up on the sidewalk, Aguilar said.

 The police department is requesting a reexamination of the woman 
by the
Department of Motor Vehicles.

 Jurek, who has worked for Guide Dogs for 21 years, called

 the incident a one-in-a-million event in which both the dog and 
handler
responded correctly - with O'Neil turning back around to help 
move Alvarado
out of harm's way, and Alvarado not letting go of the dog's 
leash.

 "You can't train a dog for such a dramatic incident," Jurek 
said.

 O'Neil underwent additional traffic training and testing 
Tuesday, just to
confirm he wasn't traumatized by the incident.  Jurek said the 
courageous
canine is in the midst of his final testing and will soon be 
protecting one
of the Guide Dog's blind or sight-impaired clients.

 "He'll get placed with someone likely in the next two or three 
weeks,"
Jurek said.

 Contact Megan Hansen via email at mhansen at marinij.com or via 
Twitter
 at http://twitter.com/hansenmegan

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