The Region - News from Nov. 18, 1985

An off-duty Los Angeles firefighter died of injuries suffered in a collision on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The California Highway Patrol said James Meier, 34, of Oxnard was northbound on Pacific Coast Highway when his car was struck broadside at the Coastline Drive intersection by an automobile driven by Hugh Taylor, 28, of Eads, Tenn. The CHP said Taylor told investigators that his brakes had failed on a steep downgrade leading to Pacific Coast Highway. Meier died six hours later at UCLA Medical Center. Taylor was not cited.