Westside : PCH TRAGEDIES

Traffic accidents on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu claimed the lives of four people this week--an unusually high number, according to Deputy Sheriff Hugh Wahler.

The city had not had a fatality on the highway since a drunk driver was killed in August, Wahler said. The recent rash of fatalities began Sunday night when a motorcyclist was hit by a car and killed. About 10 p.m. Monday, near Trancas Canyon Road, a pedestrian was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Two people were fatally injured on Thursday. One of them, a 60-year-old man, was killed about 8 a.m. near Zumirez Drive when he tried to pull his car onto the highway and was struck by a car driven by a 16-year-old girl. Later that day, a pedestrian was struck and killed as he crossed the street--not in a crosswalk--near the Malibu Pier.