Guide dog in training hailed a hero after alerting handlers to out of control car on pavement

Guide dogs are often called life changers by the visually impaired, but there is one Guide Dog for the Blind that is being called a life saver after he alerted his handlers of a potentially disastrous situation this week in San Rafael, California. A yellow labrador named O'Neil was the first to notice a car driving backwards down a sidewalk on Monday morning.



His turn alerted trainers Todd Jurek and Danielle Alvarado of the danger and they quickly ran around the corner and were narrowly missed by the careering car. Guide Dogs said Jurek and Alvarado were assessing O'Neil to see if he was ready to be assigned to a blind person. "So I think O’Neil heard the wheels come upon the kerb, so he heard that before I did,” Jurek said.

Surveillance video captured the near miss. It shows the three walking down Fourth Street when the dog looks back first to see the car. That turn alerted the group who quickly ran around the corner. They just made it safety ahead of the out of control car. The driver continued across the street and crashed into a storefront. Luckily no one was hurt. Police said the driver was a 93-year-old woman who appears to have had a major parking mishap.


YouTube link. Raw multi-camera video.

"Her driving abilities are in question, so more than likely we'll be asking that she be re-examined by the department of motor vehicles," said San Rafael Police spokeswoman Margot Rohrbacher. "It really was a miracle that nobody was injured." No doubt Jurek's quick action saved potential injuries or even death, but he credited O'Neill as well. "He kind of turned around and was in this mode of 'We got to do something!'" said Jurek. "He was going to do something, but then I interacted." Jurek said O'Neill passed his field training test with flying colours and will likely be graduating in two or three weeks before being matched with a blind client.