Venus Williams at the the 2017 French Open in Paris in June 2017 © AFP/File / Lionel BONAVENTURE
MIAMI, United States, Jun 30 – Tennis star Venus Williams was “at fault” in a Florida traffic accident that resulted in the death of a 78-year-old man, police said in a report obtained Thursday by AFP.
Williams, 37, slowed in the middle of an intersection when her vehicle was hit by a car driven by the man’s 68-year-old wife, the report said.
The accident occurred on June 9 in Palm Beach Gardens, a small city north of Miami.
The driver’s husband suffered a head injury and died two weeks later at the hospital.
The winner of seven Grand Slam championships was not using her phone and had not taken drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash, police said.
The driver of the other vehicle told police she was approaching an intersection going westbound when Williams’ northbound utility vehicle suddenly cut across into the intersection, leaving no time to stop before her car hit Williams’s vehicle.
Williams told police she was trying to get through the intersection but had slowed to five miles (eight kilometers) per hour due to a traffic jam that left her car blocking the right of way.
The driver’s husband suffered head trauma and was hospitalized in intensive care prior to his death, according to the Miami Herald newspaper. His wife went to the hospital with broken bones and other injuries.
No charges have been filed, although Palm Beach Gardens police said the crash is under investigation.
“This is an unfortunate accident and Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one,” said Williams’s attorney, Malcolm Cunningham, in a statement published by the paper.
Williams is seeded 10th at Wimbledon, the year’s third Grand Slam tennis event that begins Monday in England.
