Fans were not buying what Kyle Shanahan was trying to sell about his recent vehicular crash.
The San Francisco 49ers head coach spoke to the media at length on Saturday about the serious car accident he got into last month. Shanahan previously told reporters that he had dropped his phone and crashed while trying to grab it from the back seat of his Tesla.
On Saturday, Shanahan claimed his vehicle was on autopilot right before the accident occurred. While he still took full responsibility for the collision, he stated that he was unsure whether he had inadvertently dislodged the autopilot mode or had it malfunction at the worst possible time.
“I’ve had autopilot for nine years, so I’m pretty comfortable with it and, you know, who knows what happened when I turned around? Whether it malfunctioned or whether I knocked it off? That’s something I don’t know yet,” Shanahan told reporters, via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
“But regardless, that’s — it is 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, and it’s a good lesson, no matter how comfortable I am with that, that I believe someday could save my life or someone else’s, or it’s really helped me have perspective on that stuff.”
More than a few fans, however, did not believe that Shanahan was actually on autopilot, with many seeing it as a subtle deflection of blame over the incident.
All a lie. NO WAY the @Tesla crashed!!!! It was all him.
— Mike S (@Mike_Surtel) August 8, 2026
No chance he was on autopilot…. It wouldn’t crash and would have avoided the crash all together. Elon should divulge!
— Onlythebest1 (@GeneralV1) August 9, 2026
It was not on autopilot. Autopilot wouldn’t cause you to crash.
— Camden (@camdencwilson) August 8, 2026
Shanahan reportedly broke several ribs, required 40 facial stitches, and nearly lost an eye in the car accident.
Despite the severity of his injuries, Shanahan is expected to be healthy enough to coach as early as Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.
