A San Diego Catholic priest hit a pair of homeless men with his car Saturday night, February 7, 2009, in a pedestrian accident on 16th Street.

The father, president of St. Vincent de Paul Village homeless assistance agency, which has provided church services to San Diego’s homeless for the past 26 years, hit two homeless pedestrians.  After the auto accident, he stopped immediately to offer help to the pedestrians.

Our personal injury attorneys are always glad when a driver involved in a pedestrian accident takes responsibility for their actions and does not run away from the crash site.  For this case, it would have been really easy to do, but not very Christian.

“He said, `I did it.  It was my fault.  Somebody call an ambulance,'” said an unemployed chef who witnessed the whole thing.

One of the two pedestrians was injured and taken by ambulance to a local hospital.  The 67-year old was not cited by police and was allowed to drive to his nearby home.

The two pedestrians were wearing black clothes and carrying their bedrolls as they crossed the street, heading west.  Without a moon in the sky, these two pedestrians were very hard to see while driving a car at night.

The accident happened shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday, when he was driving home from the nonprofit’s administrative offices in the Stockton neighborhood.  The Father said he was driving west on state Route 94, which turns into F Street, when he took a right on 16th Street after stopping at the light.

“Suddenly I saw two guys in the crosswalk,” he said yesterday.  “I think I brushed them.  I don’t think I hit them too hard.”

Carroll was not suspected of drunk-driving (DUI).  According to reports, he has not had a drink since he became a priest at age 33 and helps to teach the people in his community ways to prevent DUI accidents.

Our firm’s experienced personal injury attorneys know that auto accidents happen, but there are always ways of preventing them in the future.  These homeless men may blend in best at night with dark clothes, but crossing the street as a pedestrian, while dressed like that, is not safe.

Call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced car accident attorney and find out how we can help you.  We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case.  No fee if no recovery