Venus found at fault in fatal accident

Car crash saw 78-year-old passenger of other vehicle die in hospital 13 days later

LONDON: Venus Williams, the world's former top-ranked tennis player, was the driver at fault in a two-car crash in Florida on June 9 that killed a passenger in the other vehicle, according to the initial police report on the incident released on Thursday.

News of the fatal wreck near Venus’ home in Palm Beach Gardens surfaced in media accounts on Thursday, days before the 37-year-old athlete was planning to compete at Wimbledon, which begins in England next week.

An accident report filed by the investigating police officer, given to Reuters by the city clerk's office, said Venus was to blame for failing to yield the right of way to another motorist at a four-way intersection.

The report said the other driver, Linda Barson, 68, had just entered the intersection on a green light when she reported seeing Venus’ sport utility vehicle "cut across in front" of her and "was unable to avoid crashing into" Venus.

Another motorist who saw the accident also told police Barson had a green light when Venus crossed in front of her. According to the report, Venus told police she drove into the intersection after exiting from another street on a green light, but stopped at the median break to wait for cross-traffic to clear, then proceeded without seeing Barson.

"The driver of [Venus’ car] is at fault for violating the right of way of", the investigating officer concluded.

Barson's passenger, identified in the report as Jerome Barson, 78, was taken to a Florida trauma center. He died 13 days later, according to the Palm Beach county medical examiner. The police report estimated Venus was traveling at about 8km/h at the time of impact and was not distracted or suspected of any drug or alcohol use. Venus’ attorney, Malcolm Cunningham, did not directly address the accident report's finding that his client was at fault, but said the tennis star was not issued "any citations or traffic violations”.