Visualizing Tiger Woods' car wreck: Vehicle was accelerating prior to impact

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department disclosed new details Wednesday in the one-car, rollover crash that seriously injured golfer Tiger Woods on Feb. 23 in the Los Angeles area.

The Department's Alex Villanueva, announced Wednesday that Woods was traveling more than 82 mph in a 45-mph zone and instead of braking was accelerating prior to impact, according to data received from the black box recorder of Woods’ loaner Genesis SUV.

Captain Jim Powers said "We don't know that" when asked if Woods was conscious prior to impact. 

Woods was the only person in the car. His longtime agent, Mark Steinberg, said the golfer suffered "multiple leg injuries."

USA TODAY was able to piece together the location of Woods' crash and his probable path by examining police reports, newscasts, and social media posts, and satellite imagery.

Tiger Woods crash site and path through Los Angeles

The crash occurred in the early morning of Feb. 23, shortly after 7 a.m. PST in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on the border of Rolling Hills Estates, according to authorities.

Area residents told USA TODAY Sports that car accidents are frequent along that stretch of Hawthorne Boulevard. There is a span of roughly 100 yards where sand has been placed for cars and trucks that gain too much speed.

"There's accidents all the time," said Chirelle Armante, 43.

Video and photographs suggest the vehicle crossed over a median while headed north on Hawthorne Boulevard, striking a sign for Rolling Hills Estates.

The vehicle then went off the road, coming to a rest between Hawthorne and homes on Rockbluff Drive.

USA TODAY visual journalist Harrison Hill traveled Hawthorne Road. "The road is in a valley so it's steep and very curvy," he said, "a road you really have to pay attention on." Hill captured the below video as a passenger: 

What car was Tiger Woods driving?

The Sheriff's Department said the vehicle, a 2021 Hyundai Genesis GV80, sustained "major damage."

Were the jaws of life used?

The Sheriff's Department said in a statement that Woods “was extricated from the wreck with the ‘jaws of life’” by county firefighters and paramedics before being transported to a hospital.

Later, Thomas, the fire department spokesman, told USA TODAY Sports that the fire department arrived at the scene shortly before 7:30 a.m. First responders removed the vehicle's windshield, he said, and pulled out the vehicle's only occupant – Woods – who was taken to a local hospital.

While the sheriff's department initially said authorities needed to use the "jaws of life" to get Woods out of the vehicle, Thomas said the tool was not needed.

"The jaws of life were out there, but basically what they did was they broke the windshield out," he explained.

More updates: Tiger Woods suffers multiple leg injuries in single-car crash in Southern California

Contributing: Jim Sergent, Javier Zarracina, Janet Loehrke, Karina Zaiets, Brent Schrotenboer, Tom Schad, Steve DiMeglio, Josh Peter, Mike Freeman, and Shawn Sullivan