The family of a Manhattan Beach teenager killed by a speeding driver more than a year ago is pushing for safety improvements on a stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard they say has become a recurring site of deadly crashes — and they fear it could follow the same tragic path as Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu if nothing changes.
Ford Savela, an 18-year-old senior at Mira Costa High School, was riding in the back seat of a car on the night of January 7, 2025, when a driver traveling more than 100 mph slammed into the vehicle near the 300 block of North Sepulveda Boulevard. According to the Daily Breeze, the driver’s own Mercedes Benz data showed the car reached 106 mph in the five seconds before impact and was still traveling at 83 mph when it hit the Subaru carrying Savela and two others. Savela died at a hospital. The other two occupants survived.
The driver, Kameron Lee Peterson, 33, fled the scene on foot after the crash. He turned himself in to Manhattan Beach police about 9:30 a.m. on January 9, 2025. A Torrance Superior Court judge ordered Peterson to stand trial on counts of second-degree murder, hit-and-run driving causing death or serious injury, and reckless driving with injuries…