How Much Are We Entitled to Know About Tiger's Accident?

[iacas]

There appear to be two trains of thought on Tiger's accident in February of this year.

One train seems to think that because Tiger has previously been in an accident where he was impaired (the Florida incident that resulted in him being charged with a DUI), he quite likely was under the influence again and could have killed or injured others, and only the fact that he's Tiger Woods and he didn't kill anyone else is why he got off without any citations or arrests, etc. This side often assumes he is not recovered, and is still addicted to and/or abusing drugs, and was almost surely driving impaired again, and presents an ongoing threat to the public.

The other train of thought is that the police investigating had no reason to suspect he was impaired, didn't charge him with anything, and he is entitled to his privacy following a harrowing experience where he dozed off or otherwise lost control of his vehicle.

There are viewpoints in between with varying strengths of many of the points above (and some not listed above). For example, should Tiger have to answer the question about whether he was impaired on the record, even if it's just to say "No."?

What do you think? What do you feel entitled to, if anything? What should he legally be required to answer? What should journalists continue to press him on, if anything?

[dennyjones]

It is really none of my business regarding his accident.   I'll read what the media posts with a grain of salt and wish him and his family well.

[saevel25]

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

What do you think? What do you feel entitled to, if anything?

I should be entitled to what ever is allowed under the law. Which, in this case, is nothing. 

18 minutes ago, iacas said:

What should he legally be required to answer?

Is there any law that requires him to disclose anything? I do not think so. 

I honestly trust the police to do their job in this case. I know that might be a hot take right now with the overall negative opinions about police. Most police take DUI very seriously, I would expect them to investigate that avenue fully. 

22 minutes ago, iacas said:

What should journalists continue to press him on, if anything?

If there is a compelling story that gets them paid, they will go after as much detail as possible. That is what journalist do. As long as they are following our laws, have at it. Honestly, I could care less about this story. 

24 minutes ago, iacas said:

There are viewpoints in between with varying strengths of many of the points above (and some not listed above). For example, should Tiger have to answer the question about whether he was impaired on the record, even if it's just to say "No."?

People are not entitled to know the private life of Tiger Woods, which includes the reasons behind this crash outside what is in the public police reports. 

If Tiger wants to talk, he can talk. We are not entitled to force him to talk, and we aren not entitled to the details behind the crash. 

[boogielicious]

I voted 2. Most of what happened should be between him and the accident investigation team. But the team should tell others how to avoid having the same accident by telling us the cause. They did this. He was driving too fast for the road he was on and lost control of the car. 

[imsys0042]

We are entitled to zip.   If he is charged with a crime, which I don't see evidence of, then that would be reported.   But he doesn't have to tell us anything.

[DaveP043]

From a legal standpoint, Tiger owes us nothing.  But he clearly lost control of his vehicle, the vehicle was travelling way way faster than the posted speed limit, and without doubt that speeding and loss of control put other people at serious risk.  That's not a private thing, that was danger to everyone around in a very public setting. That failure to maintain control is also an infraction, as far as I understand the law, although I know Tiger wasn't charged.  

In my opinion, it could be positive for others to understand WHY Tiger lost control.  If he was in a hurry and was speeding, he COULD be a positive influence by telling people that being late is better than being crippled.  If he snoozed off due to lack of sleep the night before, he could provide similar guidance to others.  But from what I remember seeing, Tiger has no memory of the accident, he can't tell us any of that.  And given his history of privacy, I don't think he'd be any more forthcoming even if he remembered all the details.  Its probably just as well, as @iacas said in the first post, most people have made up their minds already, anything that comes out now won't change them.  

 

 

[chspeed]

We may be entitled to see the police report. They are government records, and depending on FOI laws in CA, may be available to the public.

Anyone on here a CA lawyer?

In terms of journalists, that's their job. Just like he's entitled to keep quiet, they're entitled to ask questions.

Edited December 1, 2021 by chspeed

[woodzie264]

15 minutes ago, chspeed said:

We may be entitled to see the police report. They are government records, and depending on FOI laws in CA, may be available to the public.

Anyone on here a CA lawyer?

In terms of journalists, that's their job. Just like he's entitled to keep quiet, they're entitled to ask questions.

Completely agreed.  I chose #1.  I think your first point is the extent of it, if that.  As you alluded to, the journalist asking their questions as part of their jobs is independent/irrelevant of the general public's being "entitled to know" as the OP asks.

[TourSpoon]

We are entitled to nothing from Tiger and that is what we will get. Tiger's branding is strong and a non-statement is probably his best strategy. 

As taxpayers, we are entitled to whatever accident reports and investigations were done by the public agency under the public records laws of California. 

 

[Zippo]

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I voted 2. Most of what happened should be between him and the accident investigation team. But the team should tell others how to avoid having the same accident by telling us the cause. They did this. He was driving too fast for the road he was on and lost control of the car. 

I voted for 1 but agree with the bolded text above.

[cdb]

I voted 1- he owes "us" nothing. This is National Enquirer, celebrity gossip type fodder, and I really don't care to know more. Glad he's recovering tho, because he's fun to watch.

[Darkfrog]

My response was #1. Entitled, for me, as only a fan of TW, I am entitled to nothing beyond what the law allows. If I were family, close friend, or applicable branch/dept. of law enforcement, maybe I would be entitled to more information.

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, TourSpoon said:

We are entitled to nothing from Tiger and that is what we will get. Tiger's branding is strong and a non-statement is probably his best strategy. 

As taxpayers, we are entitled to whatever accident reports and investigations were done by the public agency under the public records laws of California. 

 

This feels about right to me.

[turtleback]

I rarely vote in polls like this but I did in this case.  I voted 1, because gossip sucks.

[GolfLug]

I changed my vote from 1 to 2. This had a possibility of endangering general public unlike 2009. Even if he may not be legally obliged or doesn't want to provide tabloid fodder, it is selfish not to say anything at all. I don't know what is in the public records.  

[SG11118]

I voted 3.  If he doesn't care about being a celebrity anymore, and wants to completely disappear into his private life and just play the majors every year then the answer is 1.  However, I take the press conference as being him saying that he wants to resume some amount of celebrity status.  If you are going to be a celebrity and accept the benefits and $$ from being a celebrity, and you are expecting the public to give a crap about who you are, then I believe you need to have some level of honesty about what is going on in your life.

[DaveP043]

17 minutes ago, SG11118 said:

I voted 3.  If he doesn't care about being a celebrity anymore, and wants to completely disappear into his private life and just play the majors every year then the answer is 1.  However, I take the press conference as being him saying that he wants to resume some amount of celebrity status.  If you are going to be a celebrity and accept the benefits and $$ from being a celebrity, and you are expecting the public to give a crap about who you are, then I believe you need to have some level of honesty about what is going on in your life.

I'm not sure that Tiger ever really cared about being a celebrity, but he's made money from endorsements, and those rely to some extent on "celebrity status".  Same with his sponsorship of events like the Hero World Challenge this week.  But I don't think his choices about non-disclosure of any more details around the accident will hurt his ability to get endorsement contracts or bring attention to events he sponsors.

[ScouseJohnny]

We are entitled to see whatever CA Gov. Code Section 6253.9 says we're entitled to see. And that's it.