Woods likely asleep at the wheel, say forensic experts

Forensic experts out of the United States are speculating that Tiger Woods was ‘‘asleep behind the wheel’’ at the time of last week’s crash.

Woods, 45, badly injured his right leg in a single-vehicle crash in Los Angeles County when he veered across two lanes of road, hitting a curb as he ploughed into a tree with his car rolling onto one side.

Despite nearly losing his life and undergoing major surgery, it’s understood Woods is determined to once again make another comeback to the sport.

But as Woods continues to recover from his injuries, experts are starting to weigh in on just what led to his accident.

Jonathan Cherney, a former police detective and consultant who provides car accident analysis as an expert witness in court, visited the site of Woods’ crash last week. According to Cherney, the incident had all the signs of someone who had fallen asleep while driving.

‘‘To me, this is like a classic case of falling asleep behind the wheel, because the road curves and his vehicle goes straight,’’ Cherney told USA Today.

‘‘It’s a drift off the road, almost like he was either unconscious, suffering from a medical episode or fell asleep and didn’t wake up until he was off the road and that’s where the brake application came in.’’

Accident reconstruction expert Felix Lee, said, ‘‘You wouldn’t necessarily see tyre marks’’ after no skid marks were seen on the road, which would’ve indicated braking.

‘‘My feeling is that speed wasn’t that much of an issue. It was just some kind of inattention that caused the curb strike.’’