Kyle Shanahan says car crash was his fault, accident report was wrong

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed his recent car accident publicly for the first time this week. During a meeting with reporters, Shanahan took full responsibility for the July 14 collision in Palo Alto, California, clarifying that he was at fault rather than the other driver involved.

The accident occurred when Shanahan reached for his phone, which had fallen into his lap. He looked down for two seconds, causing his vehicle to veer into an SUV. The crash resulted in significant injuries for the coach, including three broken ribs, a broken nose, a broken hand, and a concussion, requiring 40 stitches above his eye.

Shanahan sought to correct the record because a clerical error in the official collision report incorrectly assigned blame to the other driver. Palo Alto police confirmed that a data entry mistake occurred and noted that they are in the process of fixing the report. Shanahan stated that the situation bothered him because he did not want anyone else to face blame for his error.

Regarding his recovery, Shanahan remains on a limited schedule as he deals with lingering concussion symptoms. He noted that fatigue is his primary challenge, though he is healing. He expressed relief that the other driver remained uninjured in the incident, stating that he is lucky he did not lose his eye.