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Father Of Girl, 13, Killed On PCH Raising Money For Doc On Roadway's Dangers

MALIBU (CBSLA.com) — The father of a 13-year-old girl killed while walking from a friend's house on the shoulder of the PCH is campaigning to raise funds for a documentary about how to make the road safer.

Ellen and Michel Shane lost their daughter, Emily, the evening of April 3, 2010.

She was walking to a meeting point in Malibu where her father had arranged to pick her up when a driver going 70 miles-per-hour crashed into her near Heathercliff Road in Malibu.

Three years later, Michel Shane has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a film about the dangers that face pedestrians and others on the PCH.

PCH: PROBABLY. CAUSE. HARM. was launched this week with a $35,000 fundraising goal.

"The film will highlight the family and friends of those who've lost their lives on PCH - including Emily Shane's," reads Shane's pitch.

The filmmaker also plans to "share perspectives from sheriff's deputies, tow truck drivers, cabbies, and others who've experienced first-hand carnage on the road."

Shane says the project will not, however, be a "litany of sorrow", and promises to explore measures to make the highway safer.

"Engineers, traffic experts, and law enforcement officials - including L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol Mr. Joseph A. Farrow - will provide solutions," he writes.

Michele Shane spoke with CBS2/KCAL9's Serene Branson about the effort.

"It's unbelievable how many people have been hurt and killed on this little part of paradise. It's a war zone," he said.

"We have to find solutions. Some are expensive, but maybe there are solutions we can come up with that can save one father, one mother, from living their lives without their child."

At press time, the campaign had over $2,300 pledged.

The funding period will continue through August 21.

Ellen Shane also runs a mentorship program through the family's Emily Shane Foundation, in honor of the couple's late daughter.

Sina Khankhanian, the driver accused of killing Emily, was convicted last year of second-degree murder in her death. Prosecutors said he was suicidal over the loss of his job at the time of the crash and accused him of hitting the eighth-grader intentionally.

He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

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