Peninsula Motorist Injured After Plunging From 500-Foot Cliff

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — A motorist was seriously injured Friday morning after plunging from a 500-foot cliff on Highway 1 at Devil's Slide, Cal Fire said.

The victim was airlifted to an area hospital with unspecified injuries.

Witnesses at around 8:30 a.m. reported seeing a vehicle go over the cliff at Gray Whale Cove just north of Tom Lantos Tunnel, Cal Fire said.

The rescue effort snarled traffic for more than two hours, Cal Fire said.

First responders secured the victim in a stokes basket before a rescue helicopter landed on the beach.

Authorities believe the driver may have been driving at a “unsafe speed,” The San Francisco Chronicle said.

The driver was identified as a man in his 60s, The Chronicle reports.

Multiple agencies were involved in the rescue.

“This rescue was a team effort, from the witnesses who reported the crash, to the first responders on scene,” Cal Fire said on its Twitter page.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.