First responders on Tuesday rescued a driver who spent two nights alone on the side of a coastal cliff in the Big Sur area after veering off Highway 1 while trying to avoid deer in the roadway, officials said.
The driver, a man who suffered moderate injuries during the ordeal, went over the cliff late Sunday night on his drive home from work at Post Ranch, the California Highway Patrol said.
He later told authorities that he swerved to avoid hitting deer, causing him to veer off the highway and roll several hundred feet down the cliffside. During the plunge, he said he was ejected out of his car through the sunroof.
On Tuesday morning, a CHP air crew was asked to fly above the Big Sur coastline and search for any sign of the missing driver and his car.
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A CHP airplane crew eventually spotted the car roughly 400 feet down the side of the cliff, the CHP said. The driver was standing next to the car waving a makeshift flag.
A helicopter crew responded to the crash site and hoisted the driver to safety. He was taken to a hospital in Salinas to be treated, according to the CHP.
