A motorist was seriously injured Tuesday night when his vehicle veered off Highway 101 on the Gaviota Coast, overturned, and came to rest near the adjacent railroad tracks.
A motorist was seriously injured Tuesday night when his vehicle veered off Highway 101 on the Gaviota Coast, overturned, and came to rest near the adjacent railroad tracks. Credit: Santa Barbara County Fire Department photo

A motorist was seriously injured Tuesday night when his vehicle veered off Highway 101 on the Gaviota Coast, overturned, and came to rest near the adjacent railroad tracks.

The crash occurred shortly after 8 p.m. in the southbound lanes near El Capitan State Beach, according to Capt. Scott Safechuck of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

It took about 30 minutes for firefighters using hydraulic tools to extricate the adult male driver, the sole occupant, from the wreckage of the Toyota Tundra pickup, Safechuck said.

The man was taken by AMR ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.

His name and details on his condition were not available.

The righthand southbound highway lane was closed for a time after the crash, and train traffic in the area also was temporarily shut down.

The crash was under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

— Noozhawk editor in chief Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.