Tiger Woods Cites Phone Distraction in Florida Car Crash, Police Note Signs of Impairment
Police released an affidavit detailing golfer Tiger Woods's single-vehicle accident near his Martin County home, where he told officers he was distracted by his phone and radio when his SUV flipped onto its side.
High-profile figures find themselves caught in the same risky behaviors as ordinary drivers. A recent incident in Michigan involved a woman attending a Zoom court hearing while operating her vehicle—a situation she later disputed with the judge. Such cases of distracted driving, where motorists illegally hold phones while navigating busy roads, occur with troubling frequency.
Golfer Tiger Woods has now joined this troubling pattern. Martin County, Florida law enforcement released an affidavit today documenting Woods's arrest following a car crash that occurred last week in a residential area near his residence. Traveling at what appeared to be excessive speed, Woods struck a trailer belonging to another vehicle before his SUV veered sharply and overturned, sliding across the pavement. Emergency responders extracted Woods through the front passenger-side window of his vehicle.
Woods attributed the collision to his phone. According to the arrest affidavit, the golfer acknowledged to officers at the scene that he had been "looking down at his cell phone and changing the radio station and did not notice [that] the vehicle in front of him had slowed down." The combination of managing both a mobile device and adjusting the vehicle's audio system created a dangerous distraction.
The circumstances surrounding the crash raised additional concerns beyond simple inattention. The affidavit documented that Woods carried two hydrocodone tablets, exhibited profuse perspiration, and displayed "bloodshot and glassy" eyes. Field sobriety assessments prompted police to determine that Woods was impaired and unfit to operate a vehicle, despite his assertion that he had consumed no alcohol recently.
Woods carries a lengthy track record of similar difficulties. This marks not his first instance of flipping a vehicle. The golfer has previously disclosed struggles with prescription painkillers, which he has attributed to recovery from multiple back and leg surgical procedures.
Source: Ars Technica