A man was stuck and killed as he walked along the southbound lane of Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Monica and Malibu early Tuesday, according to police.
The 23-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Kara Nightingale told City News Service.
His identity had not been released pending notification of family, she said. The crash occurred at about 2:15 a.m., and closed the state highway in both directions.
Traffic was detoured via Sunset Boulevard and Temescal Canyon Road, according to Nightingale. PCH was expected to reopen at about 8 a.m. she told CNS.
The driver of the vehicle, a white sedan, was not injured or booked. "This was simply an unfortunate accident," the officer said.
Ls Virgenes/Malibu subregion expenditures: Freeway improvements (carpool lane and new overpasses on US 101): $253 million. PCH improvements: $0. MTA did agree to pay to reline the Kanan Dume and Malibu Canyon tunnels, for safety. Of course, neither of those are wide enough for bikes or sidewalks. There is $1 million proposed for 2017 for a bikeway of some sort at the north end of the current bikeway. That might pay for one intersection widening. Newsflash rom Agoura Hills: the city council there just rejected its third helping of Measure R money, this one to widen the Cheseboro Road bridge over US 101. The residents there don't want the road widened. Agoura Hills is pushing away from the table, and Our Fair City is struggling with studies and panels and recommendations. And the most-dangerous part of PCH, near Topanga and Chatauqua, is completely ignored by LA and Caltrans.
Great point!
The man who was killed was drunk, leaving a party on Tahiti Avenue and had been staggering on the side of PCH, according to the Palisadian Post. There is no space between the guardrail and traffic lanes along PCH (AKA the "California Coastal Trail") in part of this stretch, and there is no space on the other side of the guardrail to walk (or stagger) either.
for cite -- see la times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2013/01/pedestrian-struck-and-killed-on-pacific-coast-highway.html "The car was driven by an unlicensed driver returning home from work, who was not intoxicated, police said. The driver was questioned by police and released."
I hope you see mine: (1) The people of California prohibit illegal aliens from getting drivers licenses, (2) The people of California then build an economy that depends on cheap labor to feed us, to work our undesirable jobs (going home from work at 2:15 a.m.) (3) Then, some people demand a pound of flesh from otherwise-innocent people feeding their families, who are in the wrong place when a drunk walks in front of their car? You ask for them to be punished because we have set up a law that they cannot comply with. You demand a pound of flesh for a misdemeanor. I will stand up for them. I do not expect for you to change your mind. But times are changing, reality is reality. These people are here and not going away -- our economy would (further) collapse.
This crash happened one mile east of the Malibu City Limits, within the City of Los Angeles. That does not absolve the Malibu municipality, as that stretch of deeathtrap is the primary access to our city. PCH is a 1947 rural highway design. The patchwork of agencies that control it have all but given up on it, and all involved pass the responsibility to Caltrans: a fumbling, bloated state agency whose left and right hands do not know what the other is doing. The section of PCH where this fatality occurred, and where others have and will again occur, was last improved in 1964. Caltrans is happy with that. My condolences to the family. Even an intoxicated person, if so, has a right to a safe place to walk along a highway. Our state failed to provide that.
The guy who got the DUI in 1999, go deal with the DMV before you drive. Frankly I think everyone with a DUI should not be able to drive for a long, long, time and a second DUI should result in permanent loss of driving privileges. No one forced you to drink and drive and the person you could kill has done nothing wrong to have to pay for your irresponsibility and lack of self-control. Sit at home and drink or walk to the nearest bar. No one owes you a second chance.
"You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand at post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to."
the people's right to earn a living away from them for unpaid traffic fines, child support, or anything excluding multiple DUI cases is not only bad for our economy, it's bad for everyone driving because unlicensed drivers can't get insurance! And if they can't pay to get their license back they won't be able to pay for an accident!!!! The punishment should fit the crime. Does someone really need to loose their job, home, and dignity because they can't pay a stupid traffic fine?