Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP and the law firms of Kramer Trial Lawyers APC, Ellis Riccobono, LLP, and BD&J, PC have filed suit against the State of California, Caltrans, the California Coastal Commission, the County of Los Angeles, and the City of Malibu on behalf of the parents of four Pepperdine students struck and killed on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, California, and a fifth student who was injured in the deadly collision. The lawsuits seek to hold these entities accountable for the dangerously designed roadway and failing to implement safety measures intended to save lives.
On October 17, 2023, Pepperdine seniors Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were walking to an event when they were struck and killed on the northbound shoulder of a section of PCH known as “Dead Man’s Curve” – an approximate .8-mile stretch of road, from Las Flores Canyon Road to Carbon Canyon Road, that has resulted in the highest number of auto accidents on this 21-mile coastal roadway in Malibu. A driver lost control of his vehicle on the curving road and traveled into the northbound shoulder, where he first collided with a legally parked car, then continued northbound, striking and killing all four Alpha Phi sorority sisters and causing injuries to a fifth student.
Despite the high volume of speeding traffic in this area of PCH, there are no safeguards in place for pedestrians who are required to walk along the highway in order to access homes and the beach. Crash data obtained from The Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) as well as Traffic Accident Surveillance and Analysis System (TASAS) show that 217 reported auto collisions occurred on this .8-mile stretch of PCH between January 16, 2012 through July 26, 2023. 64 of those collisions were found to be caused by unsafe speed.
As alleged in the complaint, defendants have been aware of these dangers to both residents and visitors for decades, as evidenced by a three-year, two-phase Pacific Coast Highway Safety Study prepared for, and approved by, the Malibu City Council in June 2015. The study identified 130 safety project changes needed to improve conditions on PCH and, despite more than $28 million in available funds designated for these projects, only 7 of those projects had been completed as of November 2023.
As reported by Los Angeles County Sheriff Captain Jennifer Seetoo, between 2013 and 2023 there were a total of 3,345 vehicle collisions on PCH in Malibu resulting in 53 deaths and 92 serious injuries. In the past 10 years alone, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has issued over 42,102 speeding citations on PCH in Malibu. Attempts to improve conditions through enforcement alone has provided minimal, and, at best, temporary results. Safety design and pedestrian traffic plan changes are needed to protect pedestrians who are currently forced to walk along a narrow, unprotected shoulder, alongside ever increasingly fast traffic on this highway. ‘PCH’s been a death trap for decades. No local care to address it. Sad and unacceptable’ tweeted longtime Malibu resident Rob Lowe following a deadly crash on June 13, 2015 that took the life of Dawayne Coleman, also known as rapper MC Supreme.
“For far too long, Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu has been – and continues to be – unsafe for pedestrians and drivers alike. As a result of the defendants’ complacency, far too many lives have been needlessly lost. Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir, and Deslyn Williams should be here today,” said attorneys for the plaintiffs in a joint statement, adding, “These lawsuits will force the defendants to do what they should have done a long time ago so no more lives are needlessly taken. Enough is enough.”