Tiger Woods didn’t seem to be paying attention in the moments before his devastating crash – and may have fallen asleep at the wheel of the luxury SUV he was driving, according to a report citing forensic car accidents.
The 45-year-old left legend was driving a 2021 Genesis GV80 alone when he drove down the median strip on Hawthorne Boulevard in Rancho Palos Verdes, off the road and hit a tree, causing the car to overturn.
Woods broke several bones in his right lower leg, indicating that he hit the brakes at the time of the impact, experts told USA Today, adding that the evidence indicates he braked late in the impact sequence.
“To me, this is like a classic case of falling asleep at the wheel, as the road curves and his vehicle goes straight ahead,” Jonathan Cherney, an advisor who serves as an expert witness in lawsuits, told the press.
The former police detective personally investigated the crash site.
“It’s a road drift, almost like he was either unconscious, suffering from a medical episode, or fell asleep and only woke up when he was off the road and that’s where the braking came in,” Cherney told USA Today. .
LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said there were no skid marks to indicate braking – but the vehicle had anti-lock brakes, so even if Woods were to hit the brakes, “you wouldn’t necessarily see tire marks. Felix Lee, an accident reconstruction expert, told the outlet.
Lee said an important indication is that the SUV did not change direction in the corner.
“I have the feeling that speed was not such a big problem. It was just some kind of inattention that caused the strike, ”said Lee, who is part of the Expert Institute, a network that provides expert witnesses in court cases.
Cherney also said he saw no evidence of “any steering input” that would indicate the golfer was trying to avoid the accident.
Rami Hashish, director of the National Biomechanics Institute, which investigates accidents, told USA Today that this indicates a “very delayed response.”
“It suggested he wasn’t paying attention at all,” said the expert, adding that he suspects the damage would have been much greater if Woods had traveled at too high a speed.
The speed limit on that stretch is 45 mph.
“You can run from 45 to 80 mph with a broken leg,” Hashish said. “If you hit 60, 65 and hit a stationary object, your chance of dying increases exponentially.”
If he was going at 80 mph, “he wouldn’t have an open fracture in this leg – he would be dead,” he said.
The sheriff has said investigators did not yet know the vehicle’s speed, but said it could have been a factor, as well as inattention.
“This stretch of road is challenging, and if you don’t pay attention you can see what’s happening,” Villanueva said on Wednesday, adding that the crash was “purely an accident” in a preliminary assessment.
There was no evidence of a disability or medication, he added.
However, the experts were surprised that Villanueva had determined it was an accident without examining the SUV’s ‘black box’ computer, which could reveal steering, braking, or acceleration actions before the collision occurred.
“There’s no real accident unless it’s a real medical emergency,” Cherney said. “There is always a certain amount of negligence, whether it’s simple negligence like looking at your phone or changing radio station that starts the whole series of collisions.
“So if the sheriff says this is just an accident, I don’t know how you can put that in the game so early without completing an in-depth investigation and reconstruction analysis,” he added.
In 2017, police found Woods asleep at the wheel in Florida. A toxicology report said he had Vicodin, Dilaudid, Xanax, Ambien – which is used to treat sleep problems – and THC in his system at the time.
Cherney also wondered if the SUV was rolled over “multiple times,” as Villanueva pointed out.
“I think of a rollover as a complete turnaround, not just falling on the side,” Cherney said. “I don’t think that car has gone through as many revolutions or complete roles as they portray.”
In his initial post-crash comments, Woods said on Sunday, “It’s hard to explain how moving today was when I turned on the TV and saw all the red shirts,” referring to his peers wearing his signature red shirt and black Sunday outfit. pants during the final round of the WCG-Workday Championship.
“For every golfer and every fan, you really help me get through this difficult time.”