Being a pedestrian is dangerous these days. Speeding out of control cars are too common, especially on this section of the Pacific Coast Highway. With Malibu being a beach destination city, and the PCH being a tourist draw, it is surprising that more hasn’t been done before now to pedestrianize this stretch of the coast highway.
Tragically four young and bright Pepperdine students were hit by the driver of a BMW on the Pacific Coast Highway only four miles from campus and near the Malibu Beach where presumably many pedestrians would want to walk.
From the Malibu beach area near the PCH the four students were hit when the young driver, speeding his BMW, lost control veered and crashed into parked vehicles where the four victims were standing near. The victims were pronounced dead on the scene. Another two victims were taken to a nearby hospital.
Bohm was arrested on charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. A DUI investigation is still pending, LASD said.
Witnesses say that they saw the driver get out of his wrecked car unharmed before being pinned to the ground by several people.
A woman who has lived in the area for many years told KTLA that the stretch of Pacific Coast Highway is known as “Dead Man’s Curve” due to the high number of accidents, nearly all of which involve speeding drivers.
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People who live in the area say that serious injury and fatal crashes happen frequently in the area, partly because cars speed on the PCH.
Road mitigation might be needed but it won’t bring back the lives of these victims. Speed cameras might also be used in the near future.
According to the city, Malibu has had more than 4,000 traffic collisions on its 21-mile stretch of PCH in the last decade — including more than 1,500 that involved injuries. In the same time period, excessive speed was the most common violation given on more than 100,000 traffic citations, according to the city.
Four women struck and killed in Malibu crash were Pepperdine students, university says