Transcription
TIMES AND NO INJURIES.
SUZIE: ONLY ON "KCAL NEWS." MOST OF US HAVE BEEN ON THE 21 MILES OF PCH THROUGH MALIBU. BLOOD ALLEY. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DRIVERS USE THIS TRICK TO THE PCH EVERY DAY.
MALIBU RESIDENT MICHELLE SHEA IS ONE OF THEM. HE LOST HIS 13-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER EMILY ON THE PCH. SHE WAS HIT BY AN INTOXICATED AND SUICIDAL DRIVER.
A PATH TO MAKE A DOCUMENTARY THAT TOOK A DECADE TO COMPLETE. HE HOPES THE MESSAGE FROM HIS MOVIE WILL MAKE PEOPLE THINK OF SAFETY FIRST OUT HERE AND PUSH TRAFFIC VIOLENCE ON THE PCH.
E911, WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER TO SEE? THAT DAY. I WAS WOW, LOOK AT THIS. A REPORT ON THE SAME ROAD ON HIS WAY TO PICK UP HIS DAUGHTER EMILY.
"OH MY GOSH, IT'S HARD TO WATCH THIS." I SAID, "THAT'S NOT GOING TO END WELL FOR SOMEBODY." NEVER THINKING.
REPORTER: HE WAS WALKING ALONG PCH AND OUT OF NOWHERE, A DRIVER CAME BARRELING INTO HER. SHE WAS DEAD. MY LIFE CHANGED FOREVER.
REPORTER: MICHELLE'S JOURNEY OF GRIEF, PAIN, AND ANGER LED HIM BACK TO PCH AND THE NUMEROUS TALES OF TRAGEDY AND LOSS, NOT JUST HIS OWN, ALONG THE SAME ROAD. TWO CARS COLLIDED HEAD-ON. A DEADLY COLLISION LEFT TWO INJURED. AND THE PAPER, AND ON THE NEWS, AND ON AND ON. I SAID, "THIS IS. CAN'T ANYONE DO ANYTHING?" IF WE CAN GET PEOPLE ANGRY ENOUGH, MAYBE WE CAN EFFECT CHANGE.
REPORTER: MICHELLE IS A HOLLYWOOD FILM PRODUCER, AND HE SPENT THE LAST DECADE MAKING THIS DOCUMENTARY. "21 MILES OF MALIBU" DISCUSSES THE STATE-RUN HIGHWAY THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY THAT'S ALSO A TOURIST DESTINATION. IT'S NOT JUST MY STORY, THIS STORY OF A ROAD.
THE FILM BEGINS WITH THE HISTORY OF THE PCH OF MALIBU. IN 1929, IT OPENED AS THE FIRST PUBLIC ROAD THROUGH THE AREA. IN 1947, IT WAS WIDENED TO A FOUR-LANE HIGHWAY.
THROUGH THE EYES OF A LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER: "I'VE SEEN NINE FATAL COLLISIONS OR DEATH ON THIS EXACT SPOT."
REPORTER: A SHERIFF'S DEPUTY. THROUGH THE CAMERA LENS, THE LOCAL REPORTER. PERSONAL STORIES BEHIND THE STATISTICS. SINCE 2015, THERE HAVE BEEN MORE THAN 700 TRAFFIC INJURIES AND 20 DEATHS ALONG THIS STRETCH OF PCH. YOU DON'T THINK IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, AND YOU DON'T THINK IT WILL HAPPEN TO SOMEONE THAT YOU LOVE. YOU NEVER DO, UNTIL IT HAPPENS.
REPORTER: THE FILM ARGUES IT'S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO MAKE CHANGES, EVEN WITH A DEDICATED CITY TASK FORCE AND MULTIPLE STUDIES, BECAUSE THE STATE HAS THE POWER. WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING TO REDUCE LEGALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURIES. ONE DEATH IS TOO MUCH.
REPORTER: CALTRANS HAS NOT SEEN THE FILM. SAYS MUCH HAS CHANGED SINCE THEY STARTED OPERATING PCH IN THE 70S. THEY PUT IN TRAFFIC SIGNALS, TURN GUARDRAILS. BUT HE ASKS, WHERE ARE THE MAJOR CHANGES TO ADDRESS THE DANGERS? AT THE PCH YOU SEE NOW, THERE HAVE BEEN NO MAJOR CHANGES TO THAT ROAD SINCE THE 50S. SO WE ARE TALKING 70 YEARS, 70 PLUS YEARS AGO THAT THE SAME TWISTS AND TURNS. THERE'S NOTHING INHERENTLY TROUBLESOME ABOUT THE SITUATION THERE IF DRIVERS BEHAVE IN A SAFE AND REASONABLE MANNER.
REPORTER: CALTRANS HAD FOR YEARS THEY'VE BEEN IN DIALOGUE WITH MALIBU RESIDENTS AND THE PUBLIC ABOUT SAFETY CONCERNS. AND CALTRANS AND MALIBU, THERE WERE OVER 130 RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE PCH SAFER. AND SIX YEARS LATER, ZERO HAS BEEN CHANGED. ZERO. SOME RECOMMENDATIONS WERE REJECTED BY THE CITY, AND OTHERS HAD RIGHT-OF-WAY ISSUES, SUCH AS PRIVATE PROPERTY. A NUMBER OF THEM ARE BEING CONSTRUCTED.
REPORT THAT THE FILM TALKS ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES TO GO FROM RECOMMENDATIONS TO REALITY. IT TOOK FOUR YEARS. FOUR YEARS. HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE KILLED WHILE IT WAS WALKING ITS WAY THROUGH IT. IT'S INSANITY.
CALTRANS SAYS NOTHING IS FAST-TRACKED. IT CAN TAKE UP TO A YEAR FOR THE AGENCY TO INVESTIGATE A SINGLE ISSUE. MULTIPLE FACTORS AND MULTIPLE AGENCIES INVOLVED.
REPORTER: HE SAID HIS LATEST PROJECT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AWARDS OR ACCLAIM. ALL THESE PEOPLE WERE UPSET. THERE HASN'T BEEN ENOUGH OF THE MOVEMENT TO CREATE CHANGE.
REPORTER: . ONLY ABOUT PRODUCING REAL CHANGE. THERE'S BICYCLING AND THERE'S NOISE. YOU'VE GOT TO REMOVE THE NOISE. AND TO REMOVE THE NOISE, AND A MESSAGE AND A FILM, ANY OUTREACH ON SAFETY AND REDUCING FATALITIES AND SERIOUS INJURIES ON OUR HIGHWAYS IS A GREAT THING. WE APPLAUD EVERYONE WHO HAS GOT THAT IN THEIR HEARTS. MAYBE IT HAPPENED FOR ME TO BE CHANGE AND KEEPS THE FAMILY FROM HAVING TO LIVE THROUGH THIS.
SUZIE: RIGHT NOW, CALTRANS IS WIDENING THE STRIPING ON LANES, CROSSWALKS, AND PAVEMENT MARKINGS, AND THEY ARE UPGRADING MEDIANS AND LOOKING INTO PEDESTRIAN ACTIVATED CROSSWALKS. PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES OVER THE PCH WITH SAFETY ADS ON THEM. BUT HE BELIEVES THE SPEEDING TICKETS ALONG THE STRETCH RIGHT NOW IS A QUICKER SOLUTION. BUT HE WANTS TO CREATE A PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS USING HIS FILM AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL. THE FILM, BY THE WAY, IS ONE OF THE BEST FILMS AT THREE FILM.