RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesCredit: 49ers
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was in a car accident this summer that left him hospitalized. The incident became a major news story not just because it happened, but because of how it was covered .
While the initial accident took place on July 14, it wasn’t reported on until more than a week later . Given the extent of the injuries Shanahan suffered — Chris Simms said there was a chance the coach would lose his right eye in addition to the concussion, broken hand, broken nose, three broken ribs and the 40 stitches in his face — the fact that the story was kept quiet for so long was shocking.
The response drew criticism of ESPN, with Dan Patrick arguing , “This isn’t journalism,” regarding how ESPN was treating the story, and Dan Le Batard noting that the vagueness surrounding the situation only lent itself to more conspiratorial thinking. It was, simply, a mess.
On Saturday, Shanahan spoke with reporters and offered more details and perspective on the accident, explaining that he was using the autopilot feature in his car and had been looking for his phone when the collision occurred.
“I think everyone’s done, to a degree, what I’ve done — dropping a phone, falling all the way to my back seat to where I fully have to take my eyes off the road,” Shanahan said. “That’s something that I normally wouldn’t do. I’ve had autopilot for nine years, so I’m pretty comfortable with it. Who knows what happened when I turned around, whether it malfunctioned or whether I knocked it off; that’s something that I don’t know yet. But regardless, it’s always your fault, whether you’re on autopilot or not. You can’t take your eyes off the road. It’s a partnership driving; you don’t just turn it over to a computer.”
Kyle Shanahan says he’s mad at himself for causing the accident that could be avoided and his Tesla was on autopilot when he crashed
Kyle’s not sure what happed, whether he accidentally turned it off or it malfunctioned pic.twitter.com/zHba2bChHv
— Coach Yac (@Coach_Yac) August 8, 2026
While he spoke with a group of local reporters in late July to explain the accident, this was the first time Shanahan had taken the podium to publicly answer questions at 49ers camp.
Shanahan also said that while he is not yet fully recovered from his injuries, he plans to coach the 49ers in their preseason opener this coming Thursday.
There are still plenty of questions to be asked about both the accident and the way it was covered in the days that followed. Now that he’s back at the podium, Shanahan can be asked them.
The post Kyle Shanahan says autopilot was factor in car accident that left him hospitalized appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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