Despite a California Highway Patrol report saying otherwise, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan says the car crash was his fault, not the other driver’s.
Previously, Sports Illustrated discovered public records that indicated Kyle Shanahan was using his cell phone while driving a black 2023 Tesla sedan at the time of the head-on collision. Police did not rule the 49ers coach at fault for the crash, and interestingly, they did not cite him for the violation.
The report made it sound like the other driver, a 21-year-old woman, swerved into his lane, causing the accident. Both drivers were reportedly wearing seat belts, and both of their airbags deployed, but strangely, only Shanahan reportedly suffered serious injuries. The woman also did not receive a citation.
Additionally, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the woman, driving a blue 2025 Mercedes SUV, made an unsafe turn while going in the opposite direction of Shanahan on a four-lane street in Palo Alto.
Tuesday afternoon, Kyle Shanahan said much of what the media reported was untrue.
According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, Shanahan clarified that the accident was his fault. He took his eyes off the road briefly to find his phone, which fell between the seats, and when he looked up, he had gone over the line and into an SUV. A clerical error in the CHP database supposedly led to the misreporting of the accident as being caused by the young woman.
Wagoner also reported that Shanahan said he did not lose consciousness or have amnesia following the accident. He says the concussion is serious, but it was not to the extent of him going unconscious or forgetting what happened.
“I was driving. I was going 20 mph. I was not on my phone, but I dropped my phone, and it was stuck in my seat,” the San Francisco Standard reported Shanahan said. “I took my eyes off the road looking for my phone, and my car veered into someone,” Shanahan said. “It’s one of those roads where there’s no forgiveness. It’s one of those roads where I’ll teach my kids, you don’t drive in the left lane for no reason. You’re only allowed a foot. When I hit her, I’ll never forget how violent the impact was.”
If Kyle Shanahan explains why the car accident went unreported by the 49ers and/or ESPN for 11 days, this post will be updated.
UPDATE: Shanahan added, “It crushed me hearing [the other driver] getting blamed for it and to hear people think that people are hiding something for me. I think people are good people and [recognize] it’s a personal thing.”