Car crashes came hot and heavy during a deluge of biblical proportions over the past week. Heavy rainfall, roadway debris and poor visibility — and excessive speed in at least one case — were to blame for seven traffic accidents in seven days.
Sheriff’s deputy Wayne Encinas was caught in a mudslide that closed off a 10-mile stretch of Malibu Canyon on Tuesday morning. According to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Mauch, Encinas was struck in the shoulder and got some glass embedded in his hands when a boulder smashed through the windshield of his patrol car.
At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, a Mitsubishi Eclipse, a Jeep Cherokee and an Infiniti Q45 were banged up outside the Reel Inn on Pacific Coast Highway near Topanga Canyon Boulevard when a southbound driver braked for a car waiting to make a left turn. No injuries were reported, according to officer Ray Abramian of the California Highway Patrol.
A dramatic accident occurred on PCH when a white Lexus clipped a black GMC Jimmy early Sunday morning near the Bel-Air Bay Club entrance on PCH. All five occupants of the Jimmy, apparently none of whom was wearing a safety harness, were strewn onto the pavement when the Jimmy rolled several times. The Lexus continued on to hit a fence near the club. The driver, described as a man in his 20s, was seen wandering around on the beach after calling the Automobile Club. Further details were unavailable at press time.
At 8:45 a.m. on Monday, a 38-year-old Malibu resident lost control of her Ford Expedition while southbound on PCH. She was traveling at a “speed greater than allowed for good traction,” according to Mauch, when she lost control of her vehicle and slammed into a parked car two-tenths of a mile south of Las Flores Canyon. Slightly injured, she was treated at the scene but declined hospitalization.
Mud slipping into PCH triggered a five-car pile-up east of Big Rock Canyon on Tuesday morning. A resident of Oxnard was taken by ambulance to Santa Monica Hospital after complaining of chest pains.
Highway crews have been hopping to it to keep roads clear of rockfalls and mudslides. However, Hap Holmwood, emergency preparedness coordinator for the City of Malibu, was taking the flurry of emergencies in stride.
“There’ve been some minor rockfalls and mudflows,” said a laconic Holmwood. “Malibu Canyon and Decker Canyon were closed for a while” early Tuesday morning, but were opened in time to accommodate morning commuters.
Area residents are “lucky that the storms have been spaced” with drying-out periods between them, Holmwood continued. But, he said, if we have six or seven days straight of rain, then “we may be in trouble.”