A State Parks employee was killed early Sunday morning when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway west of Malibu.
The employee, identified as 56-year-old Shane Smith of Ventura, was a longtime State Parks maintenance worker most recently based out of a station at Leo Carrillo State Park. He was on his way to an early morning shift when the crash occurred near the Sycamore Canyon camping grounds, said Angeles District Superintendent Craig Sap.
Around 6:15 a.m., Smith was traveling eastbound on PCH just west of Sycamore Canyon when he attempted to pass a motorist on the left who was making a left turn into a campground parking lot and was thrown from his bike, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The female 20-year-old driver of the other car, a 2001 Nissan Maxima, was not injured and did not have any passengers with her. Several passersby stopped to try and help revive Smith, but he was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after paramedics arrived. An autopsy showed Smith died of blunt force injuries from the crash.
Traffic on PCH was not affected, the CHP said. Drugs or alcohol are not suspected to be factors in the crash and the female driver was not arrested, but the accident remains under investigation by the CHP.
Coworkers were astonished by Smith’s sudden death.
“Our staff is really affected by this. We brought in grief counselors this week,” Sap said.
Sap was especially jarred by the crash, after having passed Smith on PCH just minutes before the accident was reported Sunday.
“I was going the other way when the accident occurred…we passed each other as I was going up to Ojai for a hike,” he said. “He always rode a motorcycle. It’s been quite a while that he’s ridden a motorcycle, and he was always super safe, wearing a helmet and goggles.”
He remembered Smith as quiet, hardworking and dedicated to his job.
“He was an extremely hard worker; while everyone else was on their break he would just keep working,” Sap said. “And he never complained.”
Smith was not married and did not have children, Sap said.
He was part of a 40-person staff of permanent employees overseen by Sap in the Malibu area.
State Parks plans on coordinating a memorial service with Smith’s church in the near future, but plans have yet to be finalized.
