Tiger Woods was doing 87 in a 45 when he crashed, but cops saw no probable cause for blood test

Tiger Woods was involved in a car crash in February, and according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, Woods was speeding heavily in the 45 MPH zone. Over the course of seven seconds and multiple impacts, Woods was driving between 85 and 87 miles per hour.

According to Villanueva, there was no evidence of impairment during the accident. Police at the scene did not detect any physical evidence of intoxicants on Woods, there were no open containers in the car, there were no medications or drugs in the car, and they did not conduct any field sobriety tests as it would have been “inappropriate to do so” given the severity of Woods’ injuries, Villanueva said.

Detectives did not seek a search warrant for a sample of Woods’ blood to test for impairment, nor did they seek permission to search his cell phone for evidence of distracted driving. Woods told deputies that he had not ingested medication or alcohol before the crash. According to Villanueva, there was no probable cause to obtain those warrants.

Villanueva also reported that Woods’ vehicle’s data reporter indicated that the accelerator was pressed continuously at 99 percent throughout the seven-second incident, and that the brakes were not used. The sheriff said “the speculation is that [Woods] accidentally hit the accelerator instead of the brake.”

The vehicle hit the center median, crossed into the opposite lane and then hit the curb and a tree, the sheriff said in February. The vehicle rolled over several times and was found several hundred feet away from the center divider with a deployed airbag. According to Villanueva, the impact of the vehicle with the tree caused the car to go airborne and do “somewhat of a pirouette.”

Cops did not issue Woods so much as a traffic citation for the accident. Villanueva said Woods could not be given a citation because there was no independent witness or no police officer to observe the incident. Police say Woods does not have any recollection of the accident, and Villanueva pushed back against claims of “preferential treatment” provided to Woods.

“The decision not to issue a citation would be the same thing for anyone in this room,” Villanueva told reporters.