The driver somehow pulled himself out of the car after it dove into the ocean, and hung onto the side of the cliff until he was noticed and rescued.
A driver in California was rescued after his car flew off a cliff along Highway 1 and dove into the Pacific Ocean Thursday morning. A California Highway Patrol officer who just so happened to be driving along the same stretch of road shortly after the fall was led to the victim after noticing fresh skid marks on the road, authorities said.
“It was pretty incredible,” Cpt. Bryan Pineau said in a statement shared by Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit.
The driver likely went over the cliff around 8 a.m. that morning, KCBS reported. After his car skidded off the road and flew into the ocean, the driver somehow got himself out of the vehicle and onto the cliff, authorities said.
The driver had been attempting to climb up the cliff on his own by grasping onto the rocks when about 30 minutes later, the officer spotted the skid marks on the road and noticed him, Pineau said. The officer advised the driver to stay put and called for backup.
“When he went over the cliff, he must have climbed out and was able to successfully get out alive,” Pineau said. “We set up a rope system where we went down and rescued him successfully.”
Rescuers were able to belay down to the driver and help him back to safety.
The driver is in stable condition and no one else was in the car when it flew off the highway.
