Tiger Woods Was Driving About 85 M.P.H. in a 45 M.P.H. Zone When He Crashed

Source: New York Times

Tiger Woods was driving about 40 miles per hour over the speed limit when he crashed a sport-utility vehicle in February, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. Woods was traveling between 84 and 87 miles per hour in a 45 m.p.h. zone, Villanueva said at a news conference Wednesday. His car was traveling at an estimated 75 m.p.h. when it struck a tree. “The primary causal factor for the collision was driving at an unsafe speed for the road conditions and being unable to negotiate the curve,” said Villanueva.

Woods was not cited for driving too fast and no criminal charges will be filed, Villanueva said. He added that there were no signs of impairment or intoxication, and that Woods was wearing his seatbelt. The captain of the Lomita Sheriff’s Station, James Powers, said that data was obtained from the vehicle’s event data recorder, known colloquially as the black box. The data showed that Woods had hit the accelerator throughout the crash, and that the pressure applied to the pedal was 99 percent. Powers said he believed that Woods inadvertently hit the accelerator while trying to brake. Woods has no recollection of the collision, and there were no witnesses to the crash.

Woods was not cited, Villanueva said, because under California law that typically requires either an independent witness or a law enforcement officer to witness the excessive speed. He said that Woods did not receive any special treatment, and nobody would be cited for speeding in a solo vehicle collision without any witnesses. Woods had to be extracted from his S.U.V. after the crash on the morning of Feb. 23 and taken to the hospital, where he underwent several surgeries on his right leg. Doctors not involved in Woods’s care have predicted an extremely difficult recovery from his injuries.

Woods crashed his car on a windy and tricky stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard that is known for car crashes near Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal city in Los Angeles County. According to data collected by the sheriff’s department, there were 13 crashes, four with injuries, from Jan. 3, 2020, to Feb. 23 of this year within a 1.35-mile stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard that includes the site where Woods crashed. That stretch of road is also known for speeding. Deputy Carlos Gonzalez, the first emergency responder to arrive at the scene, said at a news conference in February that he had sometimes seen vehicles going more than 80 miles per hour on Hawthorne Boulevard.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/07/sports/golf/tiger-woods-speeding-car-crash.html