Police: 49ers coach not charged in crash because of officer's discretion - ESPN

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Palo Alto Police did not cite San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan for causing the car crash in which he was seriously injured because of an officer's discretion, a spokesperson told ESPN.

Shanahan summoned reporters to his office this week to say that he caused the July 14 crash while reaching for his dropped cell phone.

Vehicle collision data reported by the Palo Alto Police to a state database had indicated the other driver, not Shanahan, was at fault. The database also showed Shanahan was in violation of a California law that bars drivers from touching a cell phone while driving.

But Palo Alto Police did not cite Shanahan with violating the law. In a statement to ESPN, a police spokesperson said the attribution of fault to the other driver was the result of «a clerical error.» And the responding officer exercised his discretion when determining whether to cite Shanahan.

«It is not uncommon for officers to elect to not issue a citation to either party involved in a collision,» the spokesperson said. «Neither party in this situation was provided preferential treatment.»

Neither police nor the team have shared an official account of the accident, and both say they do not intend to do so.

California law classifies traffic accident reports as confidential to police and affected parties, and Palo Alto Police denied ESPN's public records requests for the report and officer body camera footage recorded in the aftermath of the wreck.

In his telling to reporters on Tuesday, Shanahan said his iPhone slipped off his lap and between the seat and middle console of his Tesla, and while reaching down to grab it, he veered into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle driven by a 21-year-old woman who