On Friday, Aug. 3, a car accident in northern Malibu took the lives of two drivers and injured a passenger and a bicyclist. Early news reports indicated the accident was alcohol related and the scene was described as looking “like a bomb exploded.” Despite my concerns about safety on PCH, my first inclination was to place blame solely with the irresponsible driver who made the decision to drink and drive. Unfortunately, there is more to this story.
Malibu relies on the LA County Sheriff’s Department to police the city, including PCH. According to FBI statistics, a city such as Malibu with 13,000 residents should have 26 full-time police officers. Given the number of visitors to Malibu each day, it could be argued that 26 would actually be too few. Myrtle Beach, S.C., for example, also a beach community with many visitors, has 100 police officers per 10,000 population, which would put Malibu at 130 full-time police officers. Although I do not have data on the number of full-time sheriff’s deputies protecting Malibu, I would not be surprised if it is less than 10.
Malibu has the most dangerous roads in California, compared to 103 other cities, according to the most recent figures published by the California Office of Traffic Safety. Paradoxically, despite the dangerous roads and number of visitors, Malibu had relatively few DUI arrests (90th out of 97). It would be logical to expect Malibu to have the most DUI arrests in California per capita, given the number of beach visitors we have annually. We may also infer that the number of DUI arrests is a result of having insufficient police officers and PCH not being properly policed.
Commuters and beach visitors to Malibu do not respect the roads in Malibu. Until Malibu has its own police force, of adequate size and resources, drivers will continue to disrespect the city and the number of avoidable deaths and injuries will continue. We can never know if proper policing would have made the events of Aug. 3 avoidable, but we do know that a continued indifference to public safety will result in more deaths and injuries.
Michael Beeghley