Public Safety Commissioners say education and slower speeds are the key to improving safety on the highway and city roads.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
Two fatal accidents in the last month have thrust road safety into the spotlight again as city officials look for ways to reduce accidents and deaths. On March 31, 35-year-old Vardan Harutyunyan of Van Nuys died when the dump truck he was driving overturned on Kanan Dume Road and burst into flames.
Harutyunyan lost control after his breaks failed, crashing into two parked cars, a fire hydrant and a utility pole. Harutyunyan’s truck was loaded with 17.5 tons of asphalt, more than four times the legal weight limit of 8,000 pounds on Kanan Dume Road, according to Sgt. Phil Brooks of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.
Two weeks earlier, 41-year-old Malibu resident Joseph Annocki was killed in a collision with a car exiting the driveway of Geoffrey’s Malibu restaurant onto Pacific Coast Highway on March 17. The driver of the car, Oklahoma resident Terry Turner, tried to turn left out of the driveway to head north, but was blocked due to yellow safety paddles that line the middle of the highway. Turner attempted to back up when he saw Annocki approaching on his motorcycle, but Annocki collided with the vehicle and died from the collision.
The Public Safety Commission discussed the accidents and other safety issues at its meeting last week, although several commissioners said preventing similar accidents at those locations could be difficult.
Commissioner Carol Randall noted that there were 24 signs on Kanan Dume that warn drivers of weight limits and steepness. Brooks told The Malibu Times that other truck drivers who knew Harutyunyan informed the Sheriff’s Department that he knew the weight and grade limits on the road.
“I don’t know how you can [prevent similar accidents] other than making it clear to delivery companies that that’s the case,” Randall said.
Commissioner Susan Tellem, who said she was speaking as a private citizen, told The Malibu Times the accident at Geoffrey’s, which resulted from a combination of Turner’s lack of familiarity with Malibu roads and Annocki possibly traveling too fast, was “one of those confluences of all these different things coming together and having a bad thing happening.”
Tellem suggested a larger sign that warned restaurant-goers leaving Geoffrey’s they could not turn left could be helpful. But Tellem said, ultimately, motorists must be responsible for driving safely, even if they are unfamiliar with the area such as Turner was.
“You have a responsibility as a driver to be really aware of what’s going on around you and drive defensively and drive smartly,” she said. “I’m sure he [Turner] feels really horrible.”
Brooks told The Malibu Times he would recommend to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office that Turner be charged with vehicular manslaughter. However, since the accident was inadvertent, Brooks said the charge might only result in probation, depending on Turner’s driving record.
Tellem believes increasing awareness and educating drivers about the dangers of Pacific Coast Highway and the canyon roads is essential for preventing future accidents. She said traffic safety brochures and videos, and airing Public Safety Commission meetings are inexpensive measures that could easily be done and would help prevent accidents in the future.
“I’ve been told it’s going to be a priority for the new [Public Information Officer] that the city is hiring, so we’ll see,” Tellem said, before adding, “I’m not hopeful. I think they’ll figure out a lot of other things for this person to do first.”
Randall supported the idea of more education, but noted that pamphlets and videos would not help out-of-state visitors such as Turner. She believes the only surefire way to prevent accidents is to reduce the speed on Pacific Coast Highway.
“You’ve got confusion. There isn’t enough time on this highway, with the speeds we have now, for confusion,” Randall said.