Safety Improvements Needed for Pacific Coast Highway Through Malibu

Martha Groves reports on a "wide-ranging effort to improve safety" along the Pacific Coast Highway in the coastal hamlet of Malibu, California. According to Groves, "[i]n June, the City Council voted to adopt a safety study that proposes 120 projects small and large to make the curvy road less hazardous; the traffic consultants who prepared the report also alerted the California Department of Transportation to 30 other fixes needing quick action, such as replacing missing signs or pruning overgrown plants."

The improvements are needed on a notoriously unsafe stretch of roadway that betrays the perception of Malibu as an idyllic beachfront community. " In the three years ending in December, 376 people suffered injuries and nine people — including six pedestrians — died in accidents involving vehicles on PCH in Malibu, according to the safety report," reports Groves. In the first six months of 2015, "four people had died in 117 accidents in 2015 along the Malibu portion of PCH," adds Groves.

The article goes into the unique mix of distractions and users, along with geographic constraints, that make the road especially hazardous.