Tiger Woods was driving at nearly twice the posted speed limit when he crashed in Southern California in February, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
“The primary cause of this car crash was driving at a speed unsafe for the road conditions and the inability to negotiate the curve of the roadway,” Villanueva said at a Wednesday news conference. “Estimated speeds at the first area of impact were 84 to 87 miles per hour, and the final estimated speed when the vehicle struck the tree was 75 miles per hour.”
The speed limit is 45 miles per hour along the winding road where the crash occurred in Rolling Hills Estates, according to the local government website.
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Villanueva, who was joined by other members of the department, added that there were no signs of impairment when sheriff’s deputies responded to the single-vehicle crash. He also insisted that the sheriff’s department had not given the golf legend special treatment.
“There are some saying somehow he received special or preferential treatment of some kind—that is absolutely false. There were no signs of impairment,” he stated.
Investigators said they believe Woods inadvertently pressed the accelerator instead of the brake before he slammed into a tree, causing the vehicle to go airborne and roll over.
The department admitted it did not obtain phone records to determine if Woods was using his cell phone at the time. No citation was issued, the sheriff’s department said.
Last week, the sheriff’s department said it had completed its investigation into the Feb. 23 crash.
Villanueva said Wednesday Woods and his representatives gave the sheriff’s department “permission” to release the findings of its investigation. He also clarified that police reports from similar car crashes would normally not be released, but an exception was made in this case because Woods is a public figure and there has been intense interest.
As previously reported, investigators obtained the “black box” from the Genesis GV80 SUV Woods was driving back in March.
The LASD had received criticism for its handling of the investigation, including questions as to why a blood test was never given to the athlete to determine if drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
“The first step in obtaining a search warrant is you have to have evidence of impairment to continue going down that vein. Without that, you just don’t get the search warrant. You have to establish that probable cause for that,” Villanueva said as he answered a viewer’s question in a Facebook Live stream last month.
Woods sustained severe leg injuries from the crash and underwent surgery for multiple fractures to his right leg and ankle at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
He was in Southern California at the time to attend a golf tournament, and has since returned home to Florida.
