Due to the high frequency of Malibu car accidents, the city has decided to implement new safety measures to try to decrease the amount of accidents. Many Malibu accidents happen on Pacific Coast Highway, which is a long stretch of road overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Due to the layout of the road, the minimum space between the ocean and the mountains, the speed that cars travel and the distraction of the beautiful views, there are many car accidents and pedestrian accidents on PCH.
According to the Los Angeles Times, from 2012 to 2014, there were 376 Malibu car accident injuries and nine people died in Malibu accidents. Of the nine, six were pedestrians who were killed when they were hit by a car on PCH in Malibu.
So far this year, 117 car accidents on PCH in Malibu have resulted in four fatalities. Included in those fatalities was the rapper, MC Supreme, who was killed when his car was struck while legally parked on the ocean side of PCH. Another tragic accident happened in February when Bruce Jenner, who is now knowns as Caitlyn Jenner, rear ended a car, pushing that car into oncoming traffic where it was struck by a Hummer, resulting in the wrongful death of the occupant of that vehicle.
According to traffic engineer Rock Miller, many of the Malibu accidents happen near traffic lights or involve parked vehicles. Measures that may be taken to address these incidents include raised medians, additional pedestrian lighted crosswalks and an improved traffic light system that adjusts its settings based on real time conditions. The LA Times reports that these safety measures will cost about 20 million dollars to implement.
Our office handles Malibu pedestrian accident and car accident injury cases. We frequently drive on PCH and have represented many people who have suffered injuries in accidents on PCH, so we know full well how necessary many of these safety measures are.