49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan was quick to respond to media reports Tuesday morning that the 21-year-old woman who was the other driver in the July 14 crash in Palo Alto that left him with serious injuries was the one deemed at fault.

“I hit her. I don't know why it was reported that way,” Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday, speaking to NBC Sports.

Shanahan was responding to a public report, which we noted earlier Tuesday on SFist, made in the California Crash Reporting System, a statewide database of collisions. That report noted that while Shanahan was on his cellphone, and this may have been a factor in the crash, the 21-year-old woman coming in the opposite direction and making an unsafe turn on a four-lane road was at fault for the collision.

The crash happened around 6:12 pm on July 14, near downtown Palo Alto, near the intersection of Alma Street and Hamilton Avenue. Shanahan's black 2023 Tesla Model S collided with the other driver's blue 2025 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300.

"I was going 20 miles an hour,” Shanahan said to NBC Sports. “I was not on my phone, but I dropped my phone, and it was stuck in my seats. It was on my lap, and it slid off, and I went down to look for it, and took my eyes off the road for two seconds, and as I was coming up, the airbags hit me in my face."

Shanahan reportedly suffered a severe laceration near his right eye and a concussion, as well as a broken nose, three broken ribs, and a broken hand. According to his longtime friend Chris Simms, speaking to ESPN, "He was this close to maybe losing his right eye," and this was apparently from his face hitting the car's visor.

He also clarified that he did not suffer a "severe concussion," which is typically associated with symptoms like amnesia, as was widely reported this past weekend when the story of the crash first surfaced.

Shanahan said Tuesday, "It just crushed me that the [other driver] gets blamed for it," and said he wanted to immediately set the record straight.

Jeremy Jones, the 49ers’ vice president of security operations, said in a statement that the clerical error in the California Crash Reporting System would be corrected.

Shanahan was coaching from the sidelines as the 49ers began training camp over the weekend, with Assistant Head Coach Chris Foerster taking the lead for now. Shanahan has not said when he would be returning to his full-time duties as coach. But, as he told NBC Sports, "I’m so much better. I know I’m going to be all right."

The 49ers' first regular season game is on September 10 against the Los Angeles Rams, and it will be played in Melbourne, Australia, as part of a new international marketing effort by the NFL. That game will be carried by Netflix.

The team's first pre-season game against the Tennessee Titans is in just two weeks, on Thursday, August 13, at 6 pm at Levi's Stadium.

Previously: 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Suffers 'Severe Concussion' in Car Accident

Top image: Head Coach Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers on the field during Rookie Minicamp at SAP Performance Facility on May 8, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)