A driver who apparently fell asleep at the wheel sustained serious injuries when his vehicle went over the guardrail on Highway 154 at Painted Cave Road, coming to rest about 100 feet down from the side of the road.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department responded just before 7:30 a.m. A hand crew cut a path down to the vehicle, where firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free the 23-year-old driver from the vehicle.
A rope system from a helicopter raised the victim back up to the roadway, where he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.