After four years of advocacy, Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE) celebrated a significant milestone last October when Governor Newsom signed the speed camera safety bill (AB 645) into law. With the passage of this law, six California cities—Los Angeles, Glendale, Long Beach, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose—were given the green light to roll out a five-year speed-camera pilot program. AB 645 requires that the cameras be used only on designated high-injury/high-speed roads, known street racing corridors, and around school zones. 

Unfortunately, tragedy struck just weeks after the law's enactment…

I have some good news related to the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Okay, admittedly, I’m not ecstatic, jumping up and down for joy, but it’s at least something tangible that will help, to a degree, to save lives and make roads safer on PCH through Malibu.

The latest fatality happened shortly after a show put on by California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin and other state transportation officials in a press conference about safety enhancements for the 21-mile highway weaving through Malibu.

At this press conference on Monday, 18 December, officials announced the green light for a (paltry) $4.2 million contract, enabling Caltrans to move forward with a roster of 30 upgrades.

After years of delays and foot dragging, construction work has finally commenced on the PCH Traffic Light Synchronization Project. Though community members have advocated for better safety and mobility conditions on PCH for decades, it took Caltrans until last week to commence construction on a project that was approved by the City of Malibu on 8 May 2017. In those intervening 6 years and 7 months of waiting, 29 people have been killed and 1139 people injured, including the 4 Pepperdine students who were recently killed by a speeding driver on 17 October 2023.