OFFICIALS VOW TO MAKE PCH SAFER; GROUP TO ASK CALTRANS FOR CONCRETE TRAFFIC BARRIERS.

Byline: Peter Hartlaub Daily News Staff Writer

Standing near the mangled remains of Malibu's latest fatal crash on Pacific Coast Highway, government officials pledged on Friday to make new traffic-separating barriers a priority.

Since 1991, there have been 31 collision-related deaths on PCH between the Ventura County line and the city of Los Angeles.

The latest fatality on PCH in Malibu was March 3, when a Plymouth Voyager crossed the painted yellow lines, killing 16-year-old Sabrina Csato on the day she received her driver's license.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, state Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl and Malibu Mayor Jeff Jennings were among the politicians backing Sheriff Sherman Block's request that the state Department of Transportation make PCH safety upgrades a priority.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, said the federal government has already taken action, contributing $650,000 in seed money for a new traffic radio station and other improvements.

Sabrina's father, Peter Csato, stood with the officials in front of the wreckage of his daughter's car and theorized that a concrete barrier dividing the two-lane highway would have saved her life.

``You don't have to go through that horrible grief that my family and I are going through,'' Csato said. ``I thought she was a great driver. That kind of situation, I don't think all of the years of driving in the world would get you out of it.''

Block said drivers observing the speed limit on Pacific Coast Highway are potentially 2 feet and half a second away from a collision with 100 miles per hour of force.

Of the 31 fatalities, 16 were the result of vehicles crossing over the painted center median - creating a ``mileage death rate'' on PCH that is 20 percent higher than the state average, Block said.

Jennings said he is concerned about the fatalities on the strip of PCH in Los Angeles County, more than 90 percent of which runs through Malibu.

``The problem is that a millimeter of paint on a strip of highway doesn't offer much protection,'' Jennings said.

For now, the only special funding for Pacific Coast Highway safety projects will come from the House of Representatives, which approved $650,000 on April 1.

Sherman said $50,000 will go to a radio system similar to the low-frequency station used to broadcast traffic conditions at Los Angeles International Airport.

He said $600,000 will be set aside to help with general safety improvements, including ``a median wherever a median is needed.''

Block sent a letter to Caltrans officials Friday, asking for an ``immediate study of the traffic hazards of this highway.''

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PHOTO An unidentified teen looks at the aftermath of the collision in which Sabrina Csato, 16, was killed March 3 on PCH in Malibu.

David Sprague/Daily News