PALO ALTO, Calif. (Diya TV) — San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has admitted he caused the car crash that left him with several serious injuries earlier this month. He said he briefly looked away from the road after dropping his phone, and that moment changed everything.
Shanahan spoke publicly about the July 14 crash for the first time on Tuesday. He met reporters at the team’s facility and accepted full responsibility for the head-on collision. His comments came after an error in a California accident database wrongly listed the other driver as being at fault.
Shanahan said he wanted to correct the record because he felt terrible that the woman involved in the crash received blame for something she did not cause.
“I hit her,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know why it was reported that way. The police report doesn’t say that.”
He explained that he was driving at about 20 mph in Palo Alto when his phone slipped from his lap and became stuck near his seat. He said he looked down for about two seconds to find it. During that brief moment, his vehicle drifted into the other lane and struck another car.
Shanahan said the impact happened almost instantly.
“As I was coming up, the airbags hit me in my face,” he said. “I took my eyes off the road looking for my phone, and my car veered into someone.”
The 46-year-old coach described the crash as violent. He said he will never forget the force of the collision.
The accident left Shanahan with a concussion, a broken left hand, a broken nose and three broken ribs. He also needed more than 40 stitches to treat deep cuts on his face. However, the woman driving the other vehicle escaped without injuries.
Later on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Palo Alto Police Department confirmed Shanahan’s account. Lt. Nicolas Martinez said a clerical mistake caused the incorrect information to appear in the state accident database.
Martinez said investigators found Shanahan responsible for the crash. He also explained that officers sometimes decide not to issue traffic citations after reviewing the circumstances of a collision. In this case, neither driver received a citation.
The police department also stressed that neither person received special treatment during the investigation.
Meanwhile, Shanahan continues to recover from his injuries. Although he remains with the team during training camp, he has not resumed his full coaching schedule. He said he still struggles with fatigue and cannot work the long hours required of an NFL head coach.
Assistant head coach Chris Foerster has taken over many of Shanahan’s daily responsibilities while the coaching staff prepares for the upcoming NFL season.
Despite the injuries, Shanahan said doctors expect him to make a full recovery. He also clarified that he never lost consciousness after the crash. Instead, he remained awake while doctors treated him at Stanford Hospital.
More importantly, Shanahan said he felt emotional after learning that the other driver had initially received blame because of the reporting error.
“It just crushed me hearing the girl get blamed for it,” Shanahan said. “I’m just lucky that I survived, that she didn’t get hurt and that I didn’t lose my eye.”
His comments quickly brought attention to the dangers of distracted driving. Even a glance away from the road can lead to serious consequences. Safety experts have long warned that drivers should keep their full attention on the road at all times.
Shanahan now enters his 10th season as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Since taking over the team, he has built one of the NFL’s most consistent contenders. He owns an 82-67 regular-season record and a 9-5 mark in the playoffs.
In addition, Shanahan has guided the 49ers to two Super Bowl appearances. However, the team lost both championship games to the Kansas City Chiefs, first after the 2019 season and again following the 2023 campaign.
For now, Shanahan remains focused on healing and returning to full strength. At the same time, he hopes his experience serves as a reminder that even a moment of distraction behind the wheel can have life-changing consequences.
