MALIBU—A pickup truck crashed into, and severed an electrical pole on Kanan Dume Road, just north of Malibu, on Sunday, February 8. The accident caused dangerous electrical lines to be sprawled over the major highway and limited access to and from the 101 Freeway, for nearly 24 hours.

The incident took place about 5 miles south of the 101 Freeway, 8 miles north of Pacific Coast Highway.

At this time, Kanan Dume Road is the only open highway linking western Malibu and the 101 Freeway, due to the closure of the Pacific Coast Highway between Las Posas and Yerba Buena Road. The PCH closure began on December 12 and had been recently extended to the end of February due to dangerous high surf and storm conditions.

According to a CHP statement, the collision was reported to them at 7:23 a.m. Southern California Edison workers worked immediately to replace the power pole and to rehang the wires.

“[The lanes] reopened somewhere in the early hours of Monday morning, at around 1:00 or 2:00 a.m.,” the CHP said in a statement. During that time, all traffic was rerouted to the other side of the road.

Officer Galbraith of the California Highway Patrol was present at the scene and told Canyon News that speed was a factor in the crash of the southbound-traveling vehicle.

“The driver was not arrested and wasn’t under influence,” said Officer Galbraith, “ He suffered minor abrasions to the hand, only minor injuries.”

Officer Gailbraith also added, “He severed the electricity pole, which blocked him from driving off the cliff. He was lucky that he hit the pole and didn’t drive over the cliff.”

“He might’ve died, let’s just say that,” noted Gailbraith.