March 4, 2021 | BY AAGD STAFF
Tiger Woods’ history with automobiles is becoming more, and more, controversial. The world-famous golfer also receives more attention to his life acts (and accidents) than the normal golfing individual would. First, there was the Cadillac Escalade which Woods crashed into a fire hydrant and a neighbor’s tree in 2009. Now, just a few weeks ago, on February 23, Woods crashed a Genesis GV80 courtesy car that he was driving during the Genesis Invitational.
The severity of the crash totaled the luxury vehicle. On the scene, Woods was extracted from the car by firefighters and transported directly to the hospital for emergency surgery. The 45-year old golfer was wearing a seat belt and amazingly, survived the crash that deployed 10 airbags, but he did suffer leg injuries.
With a roll-over accident such as this, the situation could have been much worse for Woods who was driving alone in the car. Consider if he had been driving another vehicle other than the GV80. That’s according to a report by the Detroit News in which an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) spokesperson praised modern safety systems and the role they had in keeping Woods more or less alive.
Woods’ vehicle went straight into a median instead of staying with the road as it curved right. He then kept going straight into opposing lanes, then off the road, where he hit a tree and his vehicle rolled over. The $50,000 vehicle traveled about 400 feet after hitting the median. There was no apparent evidence of braking on the road.
The crash could easily have left Woods with much worse injuries or even killed him. David Harkey, president of The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, believes it was modern safety systems that saved Woods from a worse fate. “It really is a sign of how well these vehicles are built nowadays and the combination of all these safety features,” Harkey said. “None of us want to be in that kind of violent collision. But your odds of surviving something like that now are much greater than they were a decade ago.”
Genesis is the relatively new luxury brand offshoot from Hyundai. The Detroit News points to the “double-layer cocoon” modern vehicles form around the occupants, that absorb a crash’s impact and spread it around the occupants to keep the cabin intact.
Both the Genesis G70 and G90 sedans received the IIHS best-possible Top Safety Pick+ award.
What safety features does it include? Standard on every GV80 are the usual set of airbags: front, front side and full-length side curtain; stability control and antilock brake systems with brake assistance; driver assistance and accident avoidance technologies; standard: lane-departure and lane-keeping assist, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, evasive steering assist and driver inattention warning.
The Genesis GV80. Perhaps it was the vehicle that saved Tiger Woods’ life.
