Information, please

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Three people lost their lives on PCH in Malibu during the past two weeks, including a 13-year old child who had barely started hers.

As a Public Safety Commissioner for the city, I am greatly saddened and distressed. Speaking for myself and not the Commission, I think it is time that we demand the City do more about enforcement. Signs and Quik Kurb help, but the only thing that stops speeders, drunks and scofflaws is increased enforcement. Instead of spending millions renovating the Performing Arts Center or Trancas Park, let’s demand that additional deputies are added to PCH.

Adding more confusion to the mix, when bad things happen, visitors are confused and frustrated. With no deputies available for posting at the closures, those unfamiliar with Malibu are left to their own devices trying to find a way out though unfamiliar streets and dead-end canyons. One man asked me how to get home when PCH was closed because the deputy refused to tell him what was happening or direct him to Kanan.

Most problematic is that there is no place to turn for information. We need a dependable notification system, one that works as well as the City’s does in a fire, but that doesn’t wake us up. In this day and age of instantaneous information with Twitter, the Web, mobile phones and other devices, there is no excuse to keep everyone in the dark. City Hall should have someone posting information immediately on the City’s Web site when an accident or problem on PCH occurs, as should Cal Trans and the Sheriff’s Department.

We have one way in and one way out, and if the road is closed for an accident or a race and a fire breaks out, we need to know where to go. I can assure you that this is going to be a major point of discussion at the next Public Safety Commission meeting.

Susan Tellem