Thursday marks one year since the deaths of four Pepperdine students who were fatally struck on the Pacific Coast Highway while walking to an event, and on Friday the city of Malibu will host a press conference to discuss initiatives taken over the past year implemented to improve safety. on PCH.
Pepperdine seniors Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams were walking a short distance on the night of Oct. 17, 2023, when they were struck and killed on the north shoulder of a section of PCH known as “Dead Man’s Curve.” extends between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon roads.
The stretch of PCH has reportedly had the highest number of car accidents on the entire 21-mile stretch of coastal highway.
The news conference Friday at the Ghost Tires Memorial on PCH will discuss initiatives such as new legislation allowing the installation of speed cameras at five critical locations along the coastal highway, increased enforcement efforts including the creation of a Malibu CHP Task Force and cooperative operations with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Angeles County, which officials say has already led to a 36% reduction in injury crashes, and other efforts.
There are also moves underway to redesign PCH. According to the City of Malibu, the long-term plan will “transform PCH from a high-speed highway into a safer, community-oriented corridor, providing safe access for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.”
In honor of the students, the city of Malibu will host a candlelight vigil and memorial evening at the Ghost Tires Memorial on Thursday evening. Battery operated candles will be provided to light the night.
Alpha Phi’s four sororities, all of whom were 20 or 21 years old, were killed when a driver reportedly traveling west on PCH at a high rate of speed crashed into several parked cars on the north side of the roadway. Sheriff’s officials said the parked cars struck the four women, killing them on the spot. A fifth student, who was injured, survived.
The driver, Fraser Michael Bohm, 22, was charged with four counts of murder and four counts of manslaughter by gross negligence.
There were no pedestrian protection measures in place on the stretch of PCH, even though the city had known about the dangers for decades, attorneys for the students’ parents allege.
The four students were scheduled to graduate from Pepperdine’s class of 2024 and received degrees posthumously, the university said.
Rolston studied business administration and planned to pursue an MBA in business analytics. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she graduated from Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, where she was a varsity cheerleader and pole vaulter on the track and field team. The university described her on its website as “a friendly, helpful and cheerful person … committed to serving others by infusing every situation with positivity.”
Stewart was an international business major at Pepperdine. She grew up in New Jersey and served as vice president of finance for the Alpha Phi sorority while working a part-time job at Seaver College’s Career Center. After graduating, Stewart looked forward to starting a career in the tech industry. She was remembered as “very involved” in campus life, and described as “a selfless, thoughtful and positive person.”
Weir was an English writing and rhetoric major. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and grew up in Pennsylvania. She was a Pepperdine orientation leader, a member of the Indian Student Association and an active member of the student body. According to the university, she “selflessly served the Seaver University community with her emotional intelligence and positive spirit. After graduation, Weir planned to use her writing skills to have an encouraging and healing impact on others.”
Williams studied biology at Seaver College. As a student, she served as vice president of the pre-veterinary club, recruitment chair for the student association, and recruitment advisor for the Panhellenic Club. “A confident, determined and energetic individual, Williams possessed the ability to make others feel seen, heard and valued,” the university said. “These skills allowed her to cultivate a community of belonging at Pepperdine.”
The university has established a memorial fund to support the families, friends and community members affected by the tragedy. Pepperdine also established the “Our Four Angels Endowed Scholarship,” a scholarship in honor of the four students.
The parents of the four students who died and the fifth student who was injured are suing the state of California, Caltrans, the California Coastal Commission, Los Angeles County and Malibu.
The separately filed suits in Santa Monica Superior Court allege that all entities are jointly liable for the allegedly dangerous design of the roadway on that portion of PCH and for failing to implement life-saving safety measures.
“For far too long, Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway has been and remains unsafe for both pedestrians and motorists,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys said in a joint statement. “As a result of the defendants’ complacency, far too many lives have been needlessly lost.”
The aim of the lawsuits is to force government authorities “to do what they should have done a long time ago so that no more unnecessary lives are taken,” the joint prosecutors’ statement said.
A sheriff’s captain reported that there were 53 deaths and 92 serious injuries in the area between 2013 and 2023. Efforts to improve conditions through law enforcement have produced minimal or temporary results, according to the lawsuits.
Although not directly related to the deaths of the four students, a fundraiser is planned Sunday at Pepperdine’s Alumni Park for the Emily Shane Foundation, which was established after a 13-year-old girl was struck by a reckless driver as she walked by. PCH was on his way home from a friend’s house in 2010. She was the daughter of producer Michel Shane, who made “21 Miles in Malibu,” a documentary about the frequent highway fatalities.
The film explores the history of Malibu and PCH and explores why stricter regulations have long been proposed but never implemented.
