‘A Safer PCH’ Momentum Extends to Curbs on Summer Traffic

• Coast Highway Has Average of 2.5 Deaths Annually; But There Have Been Four in Recent Months

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

A Safer PCH, the grassroots highway safety organization that formed following the death of 13-year-old Emily Rose Shane in April, took their message to a larger audience at a pre-Memorial Day news conference on Thursday.

Shane, believed to be the first person under 18 to have been killed in a traffic-related fatality in almost a decade, has become the symbol of an effort to challenge how Malibu’s main artery is monitored and who does the monitoring.

The Safer PCH event, intended to raise holiday highway safety awareness, was attended by more than two dozen members of the group, including Michel Shane, the father of Emily Shane, and Teri Love, whose 22-year-old son was killed on PCH in 2005.

Malibu City Council members Lou La Monte, Laura Rosenthal and Pamela Conley Ulich were also present, as were representatives of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and a contingent of Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station deputies, including Malibu sheriff’s liaison Lt. Tracy DeMello and traffic officer Sgt. Phil Brooks.

“How many people have to die or be injured? How many more mothers have to bury their children? Enough. The time to make PCH safer is now,” said Maria Flora Smoller, one of ASPCH’s three founding members.

“We need more deputies, more patrol cars, more enforcement,” Smoller said. “We are so grateful for our local sheriff’s deputies but we need more. PCH [in Malibu] is more than 21 miles long, Malibu has 17 million visitors a year. The math is simple. There is simply not enough enforcement. We want action from the State of California. We want the California Highway Patrol to patrol PCH with the sheriff’s [deputies]. PCH is a state highway and enforcement is that state’s responsibility... Put CHP back on PCH before someone else dies.”

Smoller also requested that Caltrans do more to improve safety. “ASPCH has opened a dialogue with Caltrans,” Smoller said. “We hope this will help them focus more on PCH and all the deadly problems that make it so dangerous.” Smoller pointed to the curb paddles that were installed last week at Zuma, and said that ASPCH had speeded the stalled process to get the dividers. “PCH needs more curb paddles,” she said.

Teri Love agreed, describing the illegal U-turn that caused the death of her son and his best friend on PCH in 2005, and how paddles could potentially have prevented the incident.

Emily Shane’s classmate Isaac Vandor spoke at the event representing the middle and high school Associated Student Body.  “Every day, many of the  travelers up and down PCH are, in fact kids. That is why when evaluating how to make to make PCH safer we must include the youth in the city,” he said.

“I’m here today to offer support of local community kids in ASPCH efforts to make PCH a safer place.” Vandor offered a list of safety suggestions created by students that included safer bus stops, wider shoulders, separation between pedestrians and traffic, more crosswalks and additional law enforcement.

Sheriff’s Deputy Philip Brooks said that he would also like to see more motorcycle deputies patrolling the highway but indicated that the city had to allocate additional funding to make that a reality. “We’re happy for any help we can get,” he said. “CHP does not patrol PCH in incorporated cities. They’re not supposed to. People would like that to change.”

City Councilmember Lou La Monte vowed to work to make that change, stating that he and other city officials are scheduled to meet with the California secretary of transportation on June 15 to discuss bringing CHP back to PCH.

“Everything is on the table,” La Monte said. “Anything we can do to make PCH safer we’ll follow up on.”

“Unfortunately it’s not just mothers who bury their children, fathers do, too,” Michel Shane said. In these past seven weeks we would do anything to bring her back, we would do anything to make this highway safer for other kids.”