San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan broke his silence on the car accident he suffered two weeks ago and made it clear that he was responsible for the collision. The strategist assured that an administrative error caused a public report to wrongly attribute blame to the other driver involved.
During a talk with Bay Area reporters, Shanahan explained that he decided to speak out publicly to prevent a 21-year-old woman from being singled out for an accident he claimed he caused.
Kyle Shanahan explains how the accident happened
The coach said the crash occurred when he attempted to pick up his cell phone after it slipped from his lap and became trapped between the seats of his vehicle.
“I crashed her,” Shanahan said this Tuesday. "I don't know why it was recorded that way (in the accident report database). The police report doesn't say that."
The strategist explained that he took his eyes off the road for a few seconds, enough to lose control of the situation.
“I was going 20 miles an hour,” Shanahan said. "I wasn't using the phone, but I dropped it and it got stuck between the seats; I had it in my lap and it slid. I bent down to look for it and took my eyes off the road for two seconds. As I was getting up, the airbags hit my face and broke my nose; and it seems like the sun visor caused a deep cut... I took my eyes off the road to look for the phone and my car swerved into another vehicle. It's one of those roads that doesn't forgive mistakes... When the I hit, the impact was such... I will never forget how violent it was," he added.
The accident left the 49ers coach multiple injuries
The crash occurred on July 14 in Palo Alto, California, near the intersection of Alma Street and Hamilton Avenue.
As a result of the impact, Kyle Shanahan suffered a concussion, fractures to his left hand, nose and three ribs, in addition to receiving 40 stitches over his right eye.
The coach explained that, after the accident, he waited for his wife's arrival before being transferred to Stanford Hospital, where he remained between eight and ten hours.
An administrative error would have caused the confusion
Jeremy Jones, vice president of security for the San Francisco 49ers, explained that the discrepancy between the police report and the public database likely originated during the capture of the information.
“Authorities respond to the scene of a traffic accident,” Jones explained. "They prepare a report—complete it electronically—and send it. Then they send it to the California accident registration system; they are two totally different things. The information is recorded in a site, they review it and enter it for public consultation and data archiving. There may be an entry error, but there are procedures to correct it and notify the rectification," he continued.
According to Jones, the error has already been identified and will be corrected to establish that Kyle Shanahan was the one who caused the accident.
Shanahan continues to recover before returning to 49ers
Although his evolution has been favorable, Kyle Shanahan continues to recover from the concussion and there is still no set date for his full-time return with the San Francisco 49ers.
The coach acknowledged that fatigue has been one of the main complications during his recovery, although he clarified that he never lost consciousness or suffered amnesia after the impact.
Finally, he explained that his main reason for speaking publicly was to prevent another person from carrying a responsibility that corresponds to him.
“It devastated me to hear that the girl was being blamed for it,” Shanahan said. “I am lucky to have survived, that she was not injured and that I did not lose my eye,” he concluded.
