The parents of a fifth student who was hurt and four Pepperdine students who were struck and murdered on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu in 2023 filed lawsuits against the state of California, Caltrans, the California Coastal Commission, Los Angeles County, and Malibu on Tuesday. According to the independently filed Santa Monica Superior Court cases, each of the parties is partially responsible for the allegedly hazardous PCH roadway design as well as for failing to put in place life-saving safety precautions. The plaintiffs’ attorneys released a joint statement saying, “Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu has been and continues to be unsafe for pedestrians and drivers alike for far too long.” “As a result of the defendants’ complacency, far too many lives have been needlessly lost.” The intention of.
On October 17, while going to an event, Pepperdine students Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir, and Deslyn Williams were struck and killed on the northbound shoulder of a small portion of PCH known as “Dead Man’s Curve,” which is located between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon Roads.
The stretch of PCH has seen the highest number of auto accidents on the overall 21-mile coastal road, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
The four Alpha Phi sorority sisters were killed when 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 and struck the four women as well as a fifth student, who was injured, but survived.
No safeguards were in place for pedestrians even though the defendants have known about the dangers for decades, the suits allege.
A sheriff’s captain reported that from 2013-23 there were 53 deaths and 92 serious injuries in the area and attempts to improve conditions through law enforcement have had minimal or temporary results, according to the suits.
Actor Rob Lowe, a Malibu resident, tweeted his feelings after a June 2015 crash that killed rapper MC Supreme, calling the singer’s death “sad and unacceptable,” the suit states.
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