RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 5 sourcesA state database shows that 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, shown in January, was not at fault in a Palo Alto crash in which he was injured this month. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle)
Authorities believe the head-on collision that seriously injured San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan occurred after a 21-year-old woman made an unsafe turn while driving a Mercedes SUV in the opposite direction on a four-lane street in Palo Alto, records show.
Shanahan was holding and using a cellphone at the time of the July 14 crash on Alma Street, which authorities listed as a factor in the accident, but he was not at fault for the wreck, according to the California Crash Reporting System, a statewide database of collisions.
Related: 49ers' Kyle Shanahan nearly lost an eye in car crash, friend says
Palo Alto police could not be reached Monday to verify the information in the database, which did not identify either driver by name. Neither Shanahan nor the other driver was cited.
The crash happened at 6:12 p.m. on July 14 at Alma Street and Hamilton Avenue, near downtown Palo Alto. The database said the woman was headed north on Alma, and Shanahan south on Alma.
Neither Shanahan nor the woman was found to have been drinking, according to the database. The airbags in the coach's black 2023 Tesla Model S and the woman's blue 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 each deployed, and both parties were wearing seatbelts.
Both parties sustained injuries in the crash, according to the database, though Palo Alto police told ESPN the woman was unhurt. The posted speed limit where the crash occurred was 25 mph.
The crash was first reported Saturday by ESPN, which said Shanahan, 46, suffered severe injuries that included a concussion, a broken left hand, a broken nose, three broken ribs and a facial laceration that required 40 stitches.
NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms, a close friend and college teammate, said Monday that Shanahan nearly lost his right eye.
Simms said Shanahan was leaving Palo Alto after receiving a chiropractic adjustment on the day of the crash.
John Lynch, the 49ers' general manager, declined to discuss the crash during a news conference Saturday.
"I think I'm going to leave that to Kyle," Lynch said. "I think that's more personal because everything's secondhand. I don't want to get in because other people were involved, exactly what happened. There's a report out there and I think I'll just stick to that."
Consistent with the state database, Palo Alto police Lt. Nicholas Martinez told the Chronicle on Saturday that officers did not issue citations or suspect either driver was impaired, adding that both stayed at the scene and cooperated with police.
Martinez declined to provide specific details of the crash, saying collision reports aren't subject to public disclosure: "There will be no information released regarding the cause of the collision or who was at fault," he said.
Simms said he was surprised the crash wasn't made public until Saturday.
"I was sitting there every day after it happened, going, ‘Is the news gonna break today? Is the news gonna break today? Is the news gonna break today?'" Simms said on an episode of "Pro Football Talk."
The 49ers reported to training camp Saturday, but Shanahan hasn't returned to full-time duties while he's still experiencing concussion symptoms. Assistant head coach Chris Foerster and the team's offensive and defensive coordinators are filling Shanahan's role.
Shanahan has been on the field for part of the 49ers' first two practices. He has stood about 30 yards behind the defense and observed team drills with Lynch while wearing sunglasses and sporting a cast on his left hand.
"Kyle basically is going to be in the (concussion) protocol … and all the great doctors we have are giving him great care," Lynch said. "We're going to let the condition (and) the doctors dictate how he comes back, when he comes back."
Aidin Vaziri contributed to this report.
There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢. This article originally published at Records reveal what led to crash that seriously injured 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan .
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