A driver was rescued early Sunday morning after his car plunged nearly 75 feet off a cliff along Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura County, California. The California Highway Patrol and Ventura Communications Center received calls about a vehicle that had gone off the roadway at Mugu Rock.
First responders located a gray 2006 Honda Accord on the rocks along the shoreline.
Dramatic footage shared by the CHP shows a helicopter using a powerful searchlight to illuminate the dark shoreline before sunrise. Following a brief search, a heavy-duty tow truck removed the wrecked car from the scene.
The driver, a 37-year-old man from Oxnard, was found still behind the wheel by emergency personnel. Authorities reported that the driver was alert, conscious, and communicating with rescuers. Firefighters extricated the driver from the vehicle, and he sustained minor injuries. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Investigators stated that the driver was approaching Mugu Rock at a high speed before suddenly steering the vehicle to the right. "For reasons that remain under investigation, the driver turned his vehicle to the right, traveled off the roadway, struck a rock before plummeting seventy-five feet off a cliff and onto the rocky shoreline," the CHP Ventura office said in a social media post. The highway patrol has not released further details, and it is currently unknown if alcohol or drugs were involved in the incident.