Malibu Officials Outline Steps To Improve PCH Safety After Fatal Crash

MALIBU, CA – One week after four women were killed in a single-vehicle crash on Pacific Coast Highway, elected officials and residents convened at Monday’s City Council meeting to outline concrete action – and float longer-term ideas – meant to improve safety on the busy highway.

“Their deaths cannot be in vain,” Malibu Chamber of Commerce board member Chris Wizner said. “I have a vivid vision of PCH. A vision where it’s safe to walk, safe to bike, safe to run, safe to drive.”

While residents and city leaders for years have pushed for changes to PCH – some of which are underway – the road is plagued by challenging physical and legal complexities.

“We will not let the boundaries of government bureaucracy be the reason we do not take action, we will bring everyone together to find and implement real solutions,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said.

Horvath, city officials, sheriff's Capt. Jennifer Seetoo, state Sen. Ben Allen, and a representative from Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin’s office said they’re all focused on working together to tackle the issue.

A number of plans began to come into focus during the 2 ½ hours of discussion Monday. Here are some major points:

California Highway Patrol

The California Highway Patrol is typically in charge of policing state highways like PCH, but the stretch of Highway 1 that runs through the city is a notable exception.

City Manager Steve McClary said that the California State Transportation Agency, which oversees CHP, “is currently pursuing increased CHP coverage for Malibu, especially at night.” Sen. Ben Allen said he and his legislative colleagues are working to set up a meeting with CHP to push for that.

Horvath said she plans to ask the undersecretary of the transportation agency, which also oversees Caltrans, “to ask for his personal support in reducing speed, increasing enforcement and investigating other interventions.”

Emergency declaration

The council voted to pursue a possible emergency declaration, an idea introduced by Councilmember Bruce Silverstein, which could allow the city to take unilateral action in reducing the speed limit on PCH or implementing traffic-calming measures on the highway.

Silverstein recognized that unilateral action may be aggressive – such that it could ruffle feathers in Sacramento or in LA County or even lead to intergovernmental lawsuits – and that concerned some of his colleagues.

But ultimately it was a unanimous vote: The city attorney will soon return to the council with research about the city’s options for emergency powers.

But Allen said he is in “direct contact with the governor” about giving more power over PCH to Malibu on matters such as speed limits. “This issue has gotten the attention of people at the highest levels of government because everyone knows what a terrible tragedy this was,” he said.

Speed cameras

A new law approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month paves the way for speed cameras to be deployed in California. But the plan explicitly calls for the cameras to be installed as part of a pilot program in a just handful of cities, including Los Angeles and Glendale.

Horvath said she, Allen and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin are talking to Gov. Gavin Newsom about how the program could “be considered for expansion to include Malibu immediately.”

Allen said that might require some maneuvering.

“I'd like to see Malibu included in the program, but we're going to probably have to rewrite it in a way that would allow for it to be applied to a state highway,” he said.

McClary said “the city is pushing to get those deployed as soon as possible.”

Lidar guns

Stewart asked deputies if more Lidar guns would be helpful to catch speeding drivers. Deputies said four more would be helpful, Stewart said he would work to have the city provide the funding to purchase them.

Emergency PCH Task Force meeting

Originally planned for December, Seetoo said an emergency meeting of the PCH Task Force will be convened sooner, tentatively on Nov. 8.

Sheriff's Department

Seetoo, who leads the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, said she plans to focus on “three Es – education, enforcement and engineering.”

She said she put together a grassroots committee of people to help with education – Michel Shane, father of 13-year-old Emily Shane, who was struck and killed by a driver while walking along PCH in 2010; city Public Safety Commissioner Keegan Gibbs; Chris Frost, who Seetoo called the “historian of public safety on PCH;” Wizner, who works in advertising; public safety booster Dermot Stoker; social-impact producer Kathy Eldon; and Damian Kevitt, executive director of the nonprofit Streets Are For Everyone.

One of the first educational efforts will be getting area schools, especially Pepperdine University, to incorporate “21 Miles in Malibu” into their curriculum, Seetoo said. The documentary, produced by Shane, highlights the dangers of PCH.

Seetoo said staffing at her station is down 30 percent, but she has worked to ensure deputies continue to patrol PCH. She pointed to one very recent case where an unlicensed 18-year-old driver was arrested for driving 109 mph days after the crash that killed the four Pepperdine students.

As for engineering, Seetoo said it’s time to “dust off” a 2015 PCH Task Force report and examine what safety recommendations have been completed and what still needs to be done.

Mayor Pro Tem Doug Stewart expressed faith in Seetoo, pointing to the summer of 2019, where the Sheriff’s Department had increased funding for patrols, and PCH fatalities dropped to zero.

“She knows what to do,” Stewart said. “You tell us what you need. And that same goes for anyone else that's going to do traffic enforcement, and we'll get it for you … we've got the cash, we just need the resources.”

So far this year, the deputies have issued 6,183 citations in Malibu. Of those, 3,009 were for excessive speed, according to the Sheriff's Department.

Reimagining PCH

Several people, including Allen, encouraged thinking about how PCH could be reimagined from current existence as a fast state highway into a boulevard that’s would be more appropriate for the city’s main street.

Allen pointed to another state highway, Highway 2 – Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills – as an example. He said the ongoing work to synchronize traffic signals on PCH is an example of an existing project that should make a difference.