An S.U.V. driving on Memorial Drive knocked over a lamppost and flipped over onto the grass in front of Leverett House at around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday as it swerved to avoid an oncoming car, police said. The driver escaped with only minor injuries.

A Massachusetts state trooper, Daniel Grants, said the driver, whose name was not released, was forced to swerve off the road when another vehicle, coming from DeWolfe Street, ran through a red light and sped off onto Memorial Drive.

Grants said that because the incident happened so fast, the driver of the S.U.V. was unable to provide a description or license place number of the other car.

The driver, who appeared to be in his mid-twenties, was visibly shaken after the incident but suffered only lacerations on his hand. He was treated in an ambulance on the scene for about 45 minutes before being taken home.

His car, a Dodge Ram Challenger, was towed away after the crash.

Grants said that there is no ongoing investigation because the driver was unable to provide any identifying marks of the car that went through the red light, and there were no witnesses.

"We’ve pretty much hit a brick wall," he said.

But, he added, the driver of the S.U.V. would have been much more seriously injured had he not been wearing a seat belt.

"A seat belt saved another one," he said.