A motorist escaped injury Sunday after his car veered off Highway 101 near Gaviota and slammed into a tree.

The driver, a man in his 20s whose name was not released, was southbound south of the Nojoqui Summit when the crash occurred at about 9:30 a.m., Santa Barbara County fire Capt. Scott Safechuck said.

The Toyota sedan had major damage, but the man was unharmed, Safechuck said, adding that he was “lucky to be alive.”

Firefighters had to extricate the man from the mangled wreckage.

The right-hand lane of the highway was closed for a time while crews removed the vehicle, which was off the rain-slicked roadway.

The crash was under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.