The families of four Pepperdine University seniors who were killed last year by a speeding BMW while walking along a shoulder of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu are suing state and local agencies for wrongful death.
The families of the four women, Alpha Phi sorority sisters Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams, filed the lawsuit Sept. 17 in Los Angeles Superior Court. The four women and a fifth Pepperdine student who was injured in the collision were legally walking along the shoulder of a section of PCH called “Dead Man’s Curve,” which the lawsuit says is the most accident-prone part of the 21-mile-long coastal highway in Malibu.
The plaintiffs are seeking general damages, medical damages, wrongful-death damages, special damages, compensation for loss of the enjoyment of life and all legal costs related to the lawsuit. Defendants in the legal action include the state of California, state Department of Transportation (Caltrans), California Coastal Commission, city of Malibu and Los Angeles County.
“The lawsuits seek to hold these entities accountable for the dangerously designed roadway and failing to implement safety measures intended to save lives,” one of the plaintiffs’ law firms, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, said in a statement.
Caltrans did not comment directly about the allegations in the lawsuit, but a spokeswoman for the agency indicated there are currently five safety projects in progress on PCH in the Los Angeles-Santa Monica-Malibu area, including speed-reduction enhancements and crosswalk improvements, pavement improvements and bike lanes, improved drainage and a bridge replacement.
From Jan. 16, 2012, to July 26 of last year, crash data from statewide traffic records and the Traffic Accident Surveillance and Analysis System (TASAS) indicated that 217 vehicle collisions took place on the 0.8-mile Dead Man’s Curve section of the highway, according to the lawsuit. And 64 of those accidents were attributed to driving at unsafe speeds, the complaint states.
The defendants in the litigation have known of the dangers of that stretch of PCH, as outlined in a three-year study that was approved by Malibu officials in June 2015, the Panish Shea Ravipudi statement says.
“The study identified 130 safety project changes needed to improve conditions on PCH and, despite more than $28 million in available funds designated for these projects, only seven of those projects had been completed as of November 2023,” the statement says.
The lawsuit also highlights data provided by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Capt. Jennifer Seetoo, who found that in the decade ending in 2023, 3,345 vehicle collisions took place on PCH in Malibu, leading to 53 deaths and 92 serious injuries. Changes in pedestrian traffic and new safety designs are needed to protect people along the highway’s shoulder, according to the complaint.
“For far too long, Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu has been – and continues to be – unsafe for pedestrians and drivers alike,” the attorneys representing the plaintiffs said in a joint statement. “As a result of the defendants’ complacency, far too many lives have been needlessly lost. ….These lawsuits will force the defendants to do what they should have done a long time ago so no more lives are needlessly taken.”
The lawsuit does not mention the BMW driver, Fraser Bohm, 22, who has been charged by authorities in the deaths of the four women.