Newsom OKs speed cameras for dangerous stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday approved a measure that will allow five speed cameras to be installed along a particularly dangerous stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

This 21-mile stretch of PCH has long been known as a hot spot for crashes, including scores of fatalities, but it was the deaths of four Pepperdine University students almost a year ago that propelled renewed action to improve safety on the road.

Senate Bill 1297, which Newsom signed into law Friday, builds on ongoing state and local efforts aimed at saving lives along this section of PCH. Sponsored by Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), the law includes Malibu in a speed camera pilot program that will allow it to install up to five automated cameras to detect and fine speeding drivers.

The state requires cities in the pilot program to establish clear signage about the program and a public education campaign before enforcement begins.

“The signing of SB 1297 today is a huge win for the safety of Malibu residents and its visitors,” Allen said in a statement. “We know speed cameras can help curb reckless speeding — an issue this beautiful stretch of highway has been plagued with for years — so I am grateful the governor recognizes the important role this equipment will play in saving lives.”

The bill has been awaiting the governor’s signature since late August, when lawmakers passed the measure.

In a statement, the city of Malibu said it was thankful to the state and local partners who had a hand in “achieving this landmark legislation.

“SB 1297 is a key component to turn the tide on the growing number of tragedies to students, beachgoers, and visitors along, what Governor Newsom described earlier this year as, ‘one of the most iconic drives in California, if not the world,’” the statement said. “But far too many have lost their lives along this corridor.”

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt. Jennifer Seetoo was in the Malibu/Lost Hills station when she received the news of the governor’s approval and said her phone has been blowing up with joyous messages from the community since.

“This is not the end-all be-all; you still need that enforcement side, the education and the engineering,” she said. “But this is such a step in the right direction.”

Seetoo had pushed for Malibu to be added to the state’s speed camera pilot program, which was limited to Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach and San Francisco when the measure was approved by the governor last year.

She said she was previously told Malibu would have to wait until the pilot program ended in five years.

Getting SB 1297 approved was a “complete community approach,” she said.

“When elected officials, public safety and the community come together in a united voice, that is when true change is made,” Seetoo said.

Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart told the Times that the bill requires a lot of “pre-work” to install the cameras in the proper places along the roadway. Since the city had been anticipating Newsom’s approval, he said, “we’re in the process of putting out the requests for proposals.”

“This is very important to the residents of Malibu and the people of California that use PCH, so we want to get this up and running as soon as we can,” Stewart said.

The mayor said he’s hopeful this latest safety measure will begin to change the behavior of drivers on the roadway — mainly by slowing the pace.

“Know what the speed limit is and don’t exceed it, because speeding has a direct relationship to people being injured or fatal accidents on PCH,” he said.

On the evening of Oct. 17, 2023, sisters in Pepperdine’s Alpha Phi sorority — Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams — were killed while walking on a sidewalk along PCH. A car determined to be traveling in excess of 100 mph slammed into parked cars and the women.

Between 2011 and 2023, 170 fatalities or serious injuries to drivers, passengers, cyclists and pedestrians have occurred on the highway in Malibu, according to a Times analysis.

Malibu officials have said that 60 people have died on the stretch since 2010.

“Over 60 lives lost on one stretch of our iconic Pacific Coast Highway is unacceptable — it’s a call to action,” Newsom said in a statement. “That’s why we’re adding speed cameras to help put an end to reckless driving in Malibu. These new cameras will build on the state’s ongoing safety makeover that includes infrastructure upgrades, increased traffic enforcement, and a new public education campaign.”

One of the 60 lives lost on the roadway was 13-year-old Emily Shane, who was killed by a speeding driver in 2010 when she was walking on the sidewalk along PCH.

Her father, Michel Shane, made a documentary about the incident and has been pushing the California Department of Transportation for safety measures ever since.

On Friday, Shane and his wife Ellen told the Times that the passage of AB 1297 should be “looked at as a kicking-off point.”

“Government has now decided that it’s time to look at what we’ve all lived with for so long and [now] fix it,” Michel said.

This October marks the one-year anniversary of the death of the four Pepperdine students, whose families recently filed a lawsuit against state and local agencies they say are responsible for the deadly roadway.

“It’s not about [the families] getting something, it’s about them creating change and [the students’] deaths not being meaningless,” Michel said.

These latest changes, Ellen added, make the deaths of all 60 people, including their daughter’s, a part of the effort to create positive change.

“We don’t want other people to have to deal with the pain and grief and loss that’s so unnecessary and that we and so many others have had to deal with,” she said.

Michel Shane and others are continuing to advocate for more safety measures on Pacific Coast Highway, such as an overall reduction of the roadway’s speed limit.

He said PCH isn’t going to change overnight, but he sees the commitment for improved safety from the city, the community and members of the PCH Task Force that include Allen, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.