Malibu, California is famous for its charming beaches and celebrity residences, but unfortunately, there is also a dark side to it. The Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) runs through its core, but this beautiful road has become a great source of sadness and a cruel reminder that despite people’s best efforts to make heaven safer, fatal accidents often occur there.
1.Central to this ongoing struggle is Michel Shane, a Hollywood producer with a life that once seemed enviable, marked by blockbuster films and a canyon home overlooking the Pacific. Yet, his seemingly charmed existence was irrevocably shattered on a Spring Break afternoon in 2010. That day, a drive to pick up his daughter, Emily, turned into a horrifying nightmare, leaving an indelible mark on his life and transforming him into an unwavering advocate for change.
Shane vividly remembers the frightening moments when he saw a car speeding and weaving dangerously through traffic on PCH. Shortly after, he learned that the same out-of-control vehicle had tragically struck Emily, a young 13-year-old girl, at the very spot where she was waiting to be picked up.
2.“She had a headset on, she turned to see what was going on and he hit her right on,” Shane recounted, adding, “She went 10 feet in the air, hit a sign and by the time she hit the ground, she was basically brain dead.” Paramedics confirmed the devastating news while Emily was still in the ambulance, a moment Shane describes as an instantaneous transformation: “I often say I was one person on April 3rd at 5:59, and I was another person at 6 o’clock.”
Before this devastating event, Shane, like many who lived in Malibu, didn’t think much about PCH’s dangers, believing it was just something they had to accept. However, Emily’s death transformed him, inspiring him to honor her memory by making the highway safer, leading him to create a documentary about its perils and establish the Emily Shane Foundation.
Ellen Shane, who now leads the foundation, often shares stories of Emily’s incredible kindness and generosity, recounting how she always carried snacks to give to homeless people because she couldn’t bear to see anyone suffer. This compassionate spirit now drives their determined mission for highway safety, even as the road’s tragic statistics continue to rise.
3.The alarm was again sounded in 2023 when four Pepperdine University seniors — Asha Weir, Deslyn Williams, Niamh Rolston, and Peyton Stewart — were tragically killed on PCH by a speeding car as they walked to an off-campus mixer. This horrific event renewed outrage and prompted the creation of a permanent memorial of white tires bearing the names of the dead, alongside a chilling sign proclaiming: “61 killed since 2010,” and the urgent demand, “Fix PCH.”
Indeed, the numbers underscore the escalating crisis. Data from the California Highway Patrol indicates that while statewide crashes were down by about 10% in 2023 compared to previous years, and crashes causing death or significant injury were down almost 50% from the average of the previous four years, Malibu’s portion of PCH tells a different story. A Times analysis reveals that despite scattered safety improvements, PCH has become more dangerous, with 170 deaths and serious injuries to drivers, passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians between 2011 and 2023, and these numbers consistently rose from 2018 through 2022.
In 2023 alone, the Malibu/Lost Hills station of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department recorded 127 property-damage collisions, 93 injury collisions, and three fatality collisions resulting in seven deaths, with speed identified as a primary factor in all incidents. Captain Jennifer Seetoo of the Malibu/Lost Hills station, who describes PCH as a “racetrack,” recounted a recent incident where a sergeant saved an 18-year-old driver going 96 mph, whose car rolled multiple times and caught fire after crashing. These harrowing accounts underscore the urgent need for intervention.
4.PCH itself is a unique, often contradictory, thoroughfare. It functions as Malibu’s “beating heart,” the de facto Main Street in a town that lacks a traditional center, and the essential exit route for coastal drivers. However, this very mix of uses—a parking lot for the beach, a main street, and a high-speed corridor—is precisely what makes it so perilous. Cars can be bumper-to-bumper at times, or driven at “racetrack speeds,” creating an unpredictable and inherently dangerous environment for the constant flow of tourists, residents, cyclists, and pedestrians.
In response to the growing dangers, local and state transportation authorities are actively implementing conventional road safety measures. These include lowering speed limits and improving crosswalks as part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing safety for everyone on this stretch of road.
5.Caltrans, the state’s transportation department, has also committed $4.2 million to a range of upgrades designed to improve safety. These improvements will include better lane markings on curves, special speed bars that alert drivers to their speed, visible speed limit signs, and updated safety corridor signs, signaling a departure from their usual approach.
A major initiative underway is a $34.6 million project to install communication lines that will allow traffic signals to be controlled and synchronized remotely over the next year. This advanced system, activated in early December, will monitor traffic in real-time, enabling signal timing adjustments to help manage traffic flow and potentially deter speeding.
6.This crucial project, which received approval seven years ago and is funded by Measure R, experienced significant delays, with Malibu’s public information officer, Matt Myerhoff, attributing the extended timeline to a more complex Caltrans review process than anticipated. While acknowledging the need for thorough reviews, Myerhoff suggested that a closer look at the specific circumstances of this project could reveal ways to streamline the process without compromising safety or quality.
To address the immediate safety concerns, the Malibu City Council has declared a local emergency, paving the way for a short-term contract with the California Highway Patrol for increased patrols, supplemented by officers volunteering for extra shifts. These urgent measures aim to boost enforcement, especially since Malibu has lacked regular CHP patrols since becoming a city in 1991, with a long-term contract expected to start in January.
The California Department of Transportation is also seriously considering reducing speed limits posted on PCH and has implemented immediate measures such as optical speed bars and speed feedback signs. The agency is further exploring the possibility of designating PCH as a ‘safe corridor’, which would double the fines for speeding violations and reflect the high incidence of serious collisions in the region, as a spokesperson emphasized their commitment to improving highways for all users.
