Within the 2023 documentary, “21 Miles in Malibu,” native legend Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner leans in opposition to the doorway of his iconic surf shop on the north facet of Pacific Coast Freeway throughout from the Malibu Pier.
“I’ve seen 9 deadly collisions or deaths from this actual spot the place I’m standing,” Wagner says, earlier than he ticks them off: A great pal who was dashing and flipped his Jeep a number of occasions, a helmetless motorcyclist hit by a automotive, a girl who died by suicide by stepping off the curb into high-speed site visitors, a pedestrian who crossed the road at an angle in entrance of fast-moving automobiles, and so forth.
Wagner spent eight years on the Malibu Metropolis Council, and in that point, he says, “There was no severe consciousness marketing campaign in regards to the tragedies and mishaps that occur on this freeway day by day.”
The stretch of Pacific Coast Freeway that spans the size of Malibu is likely one of the most storied roads on the earth and likewise, tragically, one of many bloodiest. As somebody who continuously drives PCH between Santa Monica and Trancas, I typically maintain my breath for worry that some spacey vacationer or distracted teenager will wander away the seashore and into my path. Or {that a} automotive will back out of a driveway proper into me. Or {that a} driver forward of me will spot an open area on the shoulder and slam on the brakes to again into the spot. I’m in awe of the courageous cyclists prepared to risk their lives for the sake of a wonderful experience.
Since April 2010, when 13-year-old Emily Shane was killed by a reckless, suicidal motorist as she walked to satisfy her father after a sleepover, 63 folks have died in crashes alongside PCH. That may be a shockingly excessive variety of site visitors deaths in a metropolis of fewer than 10,000 folks.
“It’s a hybrid street — a rustic street, a freeway, a metropolis street. Folks run throughout it on a regular basis, and one thing must be executed,” mentioned Emily’s father, Michael Shane, who has devoted the years since his youngest youngster died to creating PCH safer.
Three years in the past, Shane, a movie producer greatest recognized for “Catch Me if You Can” and “I, Robotic” made “21 Miles” to shine a lightweight on the extraordinary risks of getting a five-lane state freeway operating by way of what is basically a residential neighborhood. The hour-long documentary, which received a number of movie competition awards, aired Thursday on PBS SoCal and might be available on the PBS app and website.
“Being on this roadway,” says Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. David Huelsen within the movie, “might be the single most dangerous thing you’re gonna do in your trip.”
Shortly after “21 Miles” was completed, in October 2023, 4 younger ladies who have been seniors at Pepperdine College have been killed by a 22-year-old Malibu man who misplaced management of his BMW while speeding at an estimated 104 mph.
The 4 ladies had simply parked and gotten out of their automotive on a portion of PCH that locals name “Dead Man’s Curve,” when Fraser Bohm slammed into three parked automobiles, which hit the scholars. (Bohm has been charged with 4 counts of homicide and 4 counts of vehicular manslaughter.)
Whereas Emily’s loss of life received the dialog began, the deaths of sorority sisters Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams catalyzed actual change on PCH.
“You get one or two folks dying and it’s a tragedy,” Shane informed me. “When 4 folks standing in conjunction with the street are worn out, that received consideration. Issues began to occur.”
About seven months after the crash, state and native officers launched a safety campaign urging drivers to “sluggish the quick down.”
In February, Malibu introduced with nice fanfare that CalTrans had launched a program to synchronize 12 alerts on an eight-mile phase between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and John Tyler Drive on the west facet of Pepperdine. Monitored in actual time, drivers going the pace restrict will expertise steady inexperienced lights, whereas drivers going too quick will extra continuously hit pink lights.
Later this summer season, two temporary roundabouts are to be put in on PCH at Matador Seashore and Encinal Canyon, two high-risk seashore entry factors, which can sluggish site visitors down in the same model seen alongside any variety of European roadways.
“There was a giant, huge controversy about that,” Shane informed me. They’re taking a four-lane freeway all the way down to a two-lane freeway and other people received very upset as a result of they thought it will bottleneck. However you possibly can drive over them if there’s a catastrophe and they are often eliminated in an hour.”
In September, 10 speed cameras, approved by the state Legislature, are to be put in alongside a stretch of freeway the place greater than 80% of town’s crashes happen. Drivers exceeding the pace restrict by greater than 10 mph might be fined, between $50 and $500. (The $500 wonderful is for exceeding 100 mph. In response to a Michelin mobility research based mostly on anonymized information collected from cellphone apps, 24% of drivers on PCH who exceed 100 mph achieve this between the hours of 10 a.m. and three p.m., which is insane.)
Shane thinks the fines are ludicrously low, and I agree.
“When you received a $1,500 ticket as a substitute of a $200 ticket, you may suppose twice about going quick, as a result of it’s going to value you,” he mentioned.
In January 2025, the wind-driven hearth that ravaged Pacific Palisades demolished lots of of properties and companies in Malibu, as properly, and PCH has been closely impacted. Drivers have been pressured to decelerate in development zones, and the variety of accidents has dropped precipitously.
On weekends, nonetheless, nobody respects the posted 25 mph restrict alongside these stretches. As I found final Sunday, it’s virtually harmful to look at it, as automobiles tailgated me, or swerved round me into the sooner lane. Sadly, there was nary a police automotive in sight.
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