December 8, 2025 • 21 mins
(December 08, 2025)
L.A. City Council seeks answers about federal Olympic task force. 10 countries that cost tourists the most to visit, and the least. Millions of defective air bags have been recalled, but they’re still not fixed. ‘The Snake’ is back: Dangerous, thrill seekers’ Mulholland Highway reopens after 6 years.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from kf I
am six forty. I am six forty Bill Handle Here
on a Monday morning, December eighth, we started another week
of fun and frivolity and then we get into Honic
a week happy hanik I have you ever notice how
(00:21):
great Christmas songs are? You know, Christmas songs are absolutely beautiful.
There's just something about them. Jews have one song, the
stupid ass Dradel's song. Oh, Dreid Old, Dreid Oldreida. Oh,
I come on, guys, really yeah. And I'm buying my
first Christmas tree today. I can't even begin to believe
(00:44):
how expensive that stuff is. Because I happen to have
a gooy wife coming from a complete Jewish family. That's
very it's very expensive to be Christian. Very expensive. Now
let's get into Olympics. One of the things that I
have promised many people. Anna and I have discussed this.
(01:05):
We have to do shows that do not have President
Trump in the stories. We just have to. We cannot
help but put Donald Trump's stories on the table because
there are so many every single day. So here's a
new one. If we talk about the Olympics. Oh, we
have to add President Trump to it. The LA Council
(01:28):
has a committee on the twenty twenty eight Olympic Games,
and it is always makes sense because the Games are
going to be here, and the city Council has asked
local organizing committees, which is a different organization that organizes
the games, to clarify the role and responsibility of the
(01:48):
federal task force that's going to be involved. Now everybody
has to work in concert with everybody else. You've got
local officials, you have county officials, and the Feds are
all all over the games, as they should be. President
Trump signed an executive order in August establishing a federal
task Force on the Olympic Games for Los Angeles in
(02:12):
twenty twenty eight. By the way, those task forces were
also established for the ninety six Summer Olympics in Atlanta,
the two thousand and two Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,
for next year's World World the FIFA Cup, the World
Cup in soccer. But here's the difference. The President's repeated
(02:33):
threats to move the Games out of LA and the
World Cup because LA isn't doing enough. He believes we'll
do anything necessary to keep the Olympic Games safe, including
using our National Guard or military. By the way, you
know who's the chairman of both the Olympic and the
(02:53):
World Cup task forces? Yep, son of a gun, it's
the President. And in reference to the games coming up,
there was an August ceremony and he had mentioned that
Mayor Karen Bass is not very competent, and went further,
if I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly,
I would move it to another location. Now does he
(03:17):
need evidence, No, he can simply say I do not
believe that LA is the proper venue, and I want
a safer venue. Pick a Republican city. However, he cannot
legally remove the games. He doesn't have the authority. However,
(03:38):
do another. However, he does control federal spending, and the
FBI is all over these games. Usually certainly federal authorities
are all over these games. He can yank all of those,
for example, the venues that are on water. You see
the coast Guard going up and down. All of it's
to be removed if he does not like the way
(04:02):
the games are going, and so which way is this
thing going to go? Well, LA is hated by President Trump.
It is a sanctuary city within a sanctuary state, and
the President does not like any of it. Matter of fact,
one of the very first, if not the first attack
(04:24):
on the undocumented, those ICE campaigns to pick up and
deport undocumented, was right here in La. La is sort
of the front of the poster child of what's going
on with ICE for two reasons. Number one, simply the
population of LA. I mean, go to Salt Lake City,
(04:45):
go to South Dakota, You're not going to see too
many Hispanics up there. Go to La or San Diego
chalk full of Hispanics, of which a large number are undocumented.
That's a fact. And he is dealing with federal forces
coming in into a city that is doing it the
(05:06):
best it can to get to get in the way
of federal authorities, to get in the way of ICE.
Everything the city can do, it is doing. So there
is a lot of animosity now that translates to the
Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. It's a little tough.
That's a little tough. There's also some talk of the
(05:27):
visas not being allowed for athletes who are coming from
countries that are deemed not friendly to the United States.
So you know, politics is entering everything, unfortunately it really is.
And Los Angeles being at the forefront of an enemy
(05:48):
perceived an enemy of the president. There is obviously a
federal task force that's involved. Trump is ahead of it,
and the fight is going to be I think it's
to be pretty aggressive. Then you have the LA twenty
eight board, and a number of Trump associates were added.
(06:08):
This is the federal LA twenty eight board. Former one
time Republican National Committee, Trump's first chief of staff in
his first term, Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker, and a couple
of leading Trump donors are going to be sitting on
that board. All right, Okay, with that being said, I
(06:33):
want to talk to you about vacations. And the reason
I want to is I'm putting together next year's vacation.
Now I tend to do that early early on because
of my contract issues here at KFI and some of
the places you go. You just need to just simply
need to plan ahead. I mean, it's that simple. Okay.
(06:55):
So there is a a company that looks at all
of this and they've analyzed this. It's go to Africa
and obviously they specialize in Africa and trips. But They
also look at the rest of the world and where
(07:16):
people go, and price is not synonymous with travel experiences.
You go there because it's an inexpensive way to go.
Well maybe getting there is inexpensive, but once you go there,
you can spend ridiculous amounts of money. For example, you
(07:39):
want to go to Europe, right, and a lot of
people do. That's a vacation, that's a bucket list thing.
And you know the number one country in the world
where people spend their money. That's the most to the
most expensive country in the world. And obviously you know
it's Europe because I gave you a hint. What country
would you think that's the case? Do Neil? Would you think, uh,
(08:07):
guaranteed human Maybe not. Let's see, you're taking away to Teris, No, Nope, nope, nope,
it's actually Luxembourg, Paris way down the list five thousand
dollars where tourists spend the most money. On the other hand,
countries that were tourists spend the least amount of money.
(08:28):
Is their vacation in Vatican City, a big fifteen bucks
when you go into Vatican City. But then again, you
know you've been there. There's not much to buy. They
don't have to go that little store right there where
you can buy it at it, you know, And they do.
I mean they do have a restaurant, but all you
can buy is wafers. It is just not that expensive
(08:52):
to go there. Yes, and then you figure out getting
there and the amount of money that you spend is
a good way to plan vacation because people don't think
about how much you're actually going to spend in those
places and how expensive it can be. Switzerland is astronomical,
is ridiculous. Yeah, it's crazy expensive and so and all
(09:13):
you're doing is going to Europe. So here is what
you have to think about. And I'm right in the
middle of it because I think next year, I'm literally
looking at my dollars and Idobelia, I am looking at
my dollars for real, Neil, because I'm looking to maybe
go on safari. And let me tell you how expensive
(09:35):
safaris are. I look at these prices, I go, no,
this is for a family of eight. That's what I've heard.
It's gone on a safari, right, Yes, he's gone on too.
And how much did you spend amy It was about
ten thousand, and that is incredibly cheap. Was that a
cluse to the bear ferre.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I don't think so, but this was that was probably
then years ago, well a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah, and ten thousand dollars. I'm sure you went on
one of the less expensive, cheaper safari. Oh you went
on a luxury safari. Oh yeah, wow, for only ten
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, okay, we did a group thing though we didn't
do we didn't go by ourselves. We had a group
like forty people.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Forty Oh you can get a Yeah, you can get
a pretty good discount with forty people going at one time.
And that's very cheap. Ten thousand dollars for a single
person on a safari, not including airfare. Also, keep in
mind airfare, you're in the air about about twenty four
hours of actual flying time to get to Africa. How's
(10:42):
that for fun? Huh? And it's and it's a bloody fortune.
I'm looking at these costs and I'm going, really, I
don't know if I want to spend that much money.
I mean, safaris are neat You get to see all
of the animals, the Big five. Unfortunately you don't get
to shoot them an enem any more. I mean, those
days are gone. On. No, no killing of animals. That
(11:04):
was fun when you could do that. And those you've
ever seen pictures of Teddy Roosevelt when he was doing
the Africans apart was faring. I mean he was on
top of rhinos and elephants he killed and all. I
mean that they don't do that anymore. Well, they were
now dangered, probably back then even yeah, I don't think
they were. And then you have you sit on those vehicles.
(11:25):
How many were in those vehicles that you were on.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Amy, We had probably nine or ten okay in the vehicles?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
All right? Did you take a balloon ride?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
He did? That was one of the best things that
we did, worth every cent.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
It were it was was it twenty people in the balloon?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
It was a very large balloon.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, you get a lot of people in your you
know it almost I've done that. And some of the
downsides is if you're going to go on a balloon ride,
you want to go on a balloon that's not that crowded.
Because if you've ever seen a documentary on Emperor Penguin's
what happens in the middle of the dead of winter,
how some go on the outside for a few minutes
and then they go on the inside and they go
back and forth. That's what happened to you. I know
(12:08):
that for a fact. You keep moving, migrating from the
center to the outside.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That's ours was set up that we all had a
view the whole time. I don't remember how many people
were in it. I'd have to go look. Maybe it
was more like a dozen.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
That Sarah is still pretty impressive for the big baskets
because you can put up to twenty people in the
big basket. It's waiting for you to drop out of
the sky.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Oh yeah, you up there, like look, here comes lunch.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh absolutely, all right. Here's a story that I've been
covering for years and years, and it has to do
with defective airbags and how millions have been recalled and
still not being fixed. From twenty fifteen to twenty twenty four,
twelve million vehicles were recalled for safety defects that could
(12:53):
result in air bags not deploying. We're just talking air
bags here. These recalls, thirty seven of them in total,
including GM Cars, Ford Cars, Mercedes, Benz Audi, and around
twenty two percent that's two point six million, remain unfixed.
(13:14):
This is a story from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
and the journal found that twelve people. This is a
Wall Street Journal story. I've found the twelve people died
not very much, but a lot of people have been
really injured. When an air bag goes south, shrapnel can
actually be created and goes through you. Although if you
(13:35):
look at statistically, you want an air bag in your vehicle.
What you don't want is an air bag. It doesn't work.
And you have these air bags, safety experts agree that
they are a crucial feature save thousands and thousands of
lives since they became standard equipment in new cars about
four decades ago. And so the NHTSA also has been
(14:01):
considering are we requiring and estimated forty nine million cars
with air bags using parts from one supplier that could
rupture when it's deployed, and counterfeit air bag parts are
also being used. Boy, that is crazy stuff. So here
(14:21):
was my question that I had, and I did this
years ago because to not guy, I think is a
Japanese company that made just a huge number of air
bags for cars, and they had twenty million of them
out there and there was a recall of the majority
of them. And so let's say you get a recall
(14:43):
notice and you're really and you want your car recalled
and you're really pissed off. So let's say eight million
people going to get their car recalled, and you're not
happy with where you are. Someone has to be seven
million in nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine ninety nine
(15:03):
on that list. And it's not going to happen tomorrow. Okay,
that's one problem, And how severea gets here's another problem.
Then the NHTSA they don't specify how serious a recall
is or not. There have been recalls simply because a
page was missing from the from the manual, so they
(15:26):
recall the manual redid it also on break parts not working.
So the answer is, or one of the answers is
to sort of increase the severity of the not so
much the punishment towards a manufacturer, but the way that
(15:49):
you and I are being approached by and informed by
the manufacturers. It's just it's a one it's one page
that comes in an envelope in his first class mail
and it says your car has been recalled, and a
lot of people are saying, you know, people throw those
away because it's just another car. Either advertising or some
(16:14):
kind of a spiff. If I'm just getting these from
BMW right now, my lease is up and I'm getting
an email plus a, I'm getting a letter that says, hey,
your car lease, you have seventeen months to go. We're
going to put you in a new one for the
same price. Give me a break, like I'm going to
do it. But here is what the NHTSA is thinking of,
(16:36):
and it makes a lot of sense, and that is,
do what the big pharma is doing, or more importantly,
do what big Tobacco did with cigarette smokes smoke and
on the cigarette packs, put these really hard hitting messages
smoking will cause cancer in big letters. Recall if you
(17:01):
don't recall your car, serious damage or death may happen.
And put those in big letters across the envelope. Now
is that going to get my attention? Hell? Yes, okay.
Here is a story I want to share it with
your last one and it's entitled the Snake is Back.
(17:23):
And what does that mean? Well, Moholland Highway a one
and a half two point four mile stretch. It was
burnt down or the Wolseley fire burnt down the area
in twenty eighteen there were month slides the next year.
So what the county did, and this is County land
up there for more than six years, couldn't do it,
(17:47):
could not go around the corners of that stretch of
Mulholland Highway is dangerous as hell, and it certainly was
why speeding motorists, car races, collisions, people died like crazy.
(18:07):
If you've ever been to that area and I have,
it's winding curves, you cannot see who's ahead of you,
and people who drive there are nuts. They are completely
out of their minds. And I try to stay away,
but sometimes it's the only way you can go in
any case. Here's what the county did, a new set
(18:28):
of safety improvements, hoping that this dangerous reputation for real
reasons can somehow be shed. New curve warning signs, tightened intersections,
updated road strips, safety ballards. Wait, what's the ballard? By
the way? Are those those bumps in the highway? Ballard?
(18:51):
The ballards aren't they they're the I don't know. They're
like the big things that keep their posts that keep
you from going all those metal that metal fencing is
that with ballards? Yeah? Okay, don't know. Rumble strips. That one.
I don't know either.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
There are the little bumps on the road that.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Bumps on the rollers are rumble strips.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Ballards are there. They are like at the entrance to
Third Street promenade, they have ballards up that block cars
from getting onto.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
The bab I see the metal posts. Yeah, that block
car So were you now think about that ballards in
the middle of the road. That does slow people down.
There's no question about it. Putting up ballards is the
end all be all. But during the Woolsey fire, wow,
(19:47):
ninety seven thousand acres in Malibu alone. Uh, the snake's
guard rails, that's what those are on this side. Uh,
they actually all melted. The pavement actually burns, and there
was a bridge that was destroyed. So there is a
program called Vision zero. I guess that refers to you
(20:12):
losing your eyesight while driving in the road and getting
into a car accident. Maybe not, Maybe I have that wrong.
And La County established a goal to reach zero traffic
deaths on its roadways unincorporated roadways that's where La County
has jurisdiction. By twenty thirty five county roadways, more than
(20:35):
seventy five people die every year on those county roadways.
So you can now drive with impunity on the snake.
The snake is back, all right? What to give me
the weird look? Will? What all you heard is the
(20:58):
snake is back. I wasn't talking about pleasuring yourself or no,
none of that. Okay, No one was. Well, he was questioning.
He was questioning what I meant by the snake is back? Okay,
Well that also can refer to, okay, we are done
(21:21):
with the show. You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from kf I
am six forty. I am six forty Bill Handle Here
on a Monday morning, December eighth, we started another week
of fun and frivolity and then we get into Honic
a week happy hanik I have you ever notice how
(00:21):
great Christmas songs are? You know, Christmas songs are absolutely beautiful.
There's just something about them. Jews have one song, the
stupid ass Dradel's song. Oh, Dreid Old, Dreid Oldreida. Oh,
I come on, guys, really yeah. And I'm buying my
first Christmas tree today. I can't even begin to believe
(00:44):
how expensive that stuff is. Because I happen to have
a gooy wife coming from a complete Jewish family. That's
very it's very expensive to be Christian. Very expensive. Now
let's get into Olympics. One of the things that I
have promised many people. Anna and I have discussed this.
(01:05):
We have to do shows that do not have President
Trump in the stories. We just have to. We cannot
help but put Donald Trump's stories on the table because
there are so many every single day. So here's a
new one. If we talk about the Olympics. Oh, we
have to add President Trump to it. The LA Council
(01:28):
has a committee on the twenty twenty eight Olympic Games,
and it is always makes sense because the Games are
going to be here, and the city Council has asked
local organizing committees, which is a different organization that organizes
the games, to clarify the role and responsibility of the
(01:48):
federal task force that's going to be involved. Now everybody
has to work in concert with everybody else. You've got
local officials, you have county officials, and the Feds are
all all over the games, as they should be. President
Trump signed an executive order in August establishing a federal
task Force on the Olympic Games for Los Angeles in
(02:12):
twenty twenty eight. By the way, those task forces were
also established for the ninety six Summer Olympics in Atlanta,
the two thousand and two Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,
for next year's World World the FIFA Cup, the World
Cup in soccer. But here's the difference. The President's repeated
(02:33):
threats to move the Games out of LA and the
World Cup because LA isn't doing enough. He believes we'll
do anything necessary to keep the Olympic Games safe, including
using our National Guard or military. By the way, you
know who's the chairman of both the Olympic and the
(02:53):
World Cup task forces? Yep, son of a gun, it's
the President. And in reference to the games coming up,
there was an August ceremony and he had mentioned that
Mayor Karen Bass is not very competent, and went further,
if I thought LA was not going to be prepared properly,
I would move it to another location. Now does he
(03:17):
need evidence, No, he can simply say I do not
believe that LA is the proper venue, and I want
a safer venue. Pick a Republican city. However, he cannot
legally remove the games. He doesn't have the authority. However,
(03:38):
do another. However, he does control federal spending, and the
FBI is all over these games. Usually certainly federal authorities
are all over these games. He can yank all of those,
for example, the venues that are on water. You see
the coast Guard going up and down. All of it's
to be removed if he does not like the way
(04:02):
the games are going, and so which way is this
thing going to go? Well, LA is hated by President Trump.
It is a sanctuary city within a sanctuary state, and
the President does not like any of it. Matter of fact,
one of the very first, if not the first attack
(04:24):
on the undocumented, those ICE campaigns to pick up and
deport undocumented, was right here in La. La is sort
of the front of the poster child of what's going
on with ICE for two reasons. Number one, simply the
population of LA. I mean, go to Salt Lake City,
(04:45):
go to South Dakota, You're not going to see too
many Hispanics up there. Go to La or San Diego
chalk full of Hispanics, of which a large number are undocumented.
That's a fact. And he is dealing with federal forces
coming in into a city that is doing it the
(05:06):
best it can to get to get in the way
of federal authorities, to get in the way of ICE.
Everything the city can do, it is doing. So there
is a lot of animosity now that translates to the
Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. It's a little tough.
That's a little tough. There's also some talk of the
(05:27):
visas not being allowed for athletes who are coming from
countries that are deemed not friendly to the United States.
So you know, politics is entering everything, unfortunately it really is.
And Los Angeles being at the forefront of an enemy
(05:48):
perceived an enemy of the president. There is obviously a
federal task force that's involved. Trump is ahead of it,
and the fight is going to be I think it's
to be pretty aggressive. Then you have the LA twenty
eight board, and a number of Trump associates were added.
(06:08):
This is the federal LA twenty eight board. Former one
time Republican National Committee, Trump's first chief of staff in
his first term, Kevin McCarthy, former Speaker, and a couple
of leading Trump donors are going to be sitting on
that board. All right, Okay, with that being said, I
(06:33):
want to talk to you about vacations. And the reason
I want to is I'm putting together next year's vacation.
Now I tend to do that early early on because
of my contract issues here at KFI and some of
the places you go. You just need to just simply
need to plan ahead. I mean, it's that simple. Okay.
(06:55):
So there is a a company that looks at all
of this and they've analyzed this. It's go to Africa
and obviously they specialize in Africa and trips. But They
also look at the rest of the world and where
(07:16):
people go, and price is not synonymous with travel experiences.
You go there because it's an inexpensive way to go.
Well maybe getting there is inexpensive, but once you go there,
you can spend ridiculous amounts of money. For example, you
(07:39):
want to go to Europe, right, and a lot of
people do. That's a vacation, that's a bucket list thing.
And you know the number one country in the world
where people spend their money. That's the most to the
most expensive country in the world. And obviously you know
it's Europe because I gave you a hint. What country
would you think that's the case? Do Neil? Would you think, uh,
(08:07):
guaranteed human Maybe not. Let's see, you're taking away to Teris, No, Nope, nope, nope,
it's actually Luxembourg, Paris way down the list five thousand
dollars where tourists spend the most money. On the other hand,
countries that were tourists spend the least amount of money.
(08:28):
Is their vacation in Vatican City, a big fifteen bucks
when you go into Vatican City. But then again, you
know you've been there. There's not much to buy. They
don't have to go that little store right there where
you can buy it at it, you know, And they do.
I mean they do have a restaurant, but all you
can buy is wafers. It is just not that expensive
(08:52):
to go there. Yes, and then you figure out getting
there and the amount of money that you spend is
a good way to plan vacation because people don't think
about how much you're actually going to spend in those
places and how expensive it can be. Switzerland is astronomical,
is ridiculous. Yeah, it's crazy expensive and so and all
(09:13):
you're doing is going to Europe. So here is what
you have to think about. And I'm right in the
middle of it because I think next year, I'm literally
looking at my dollars and Idobelia, I am looking at
my dollars for real, Neil, because I'm looking to maybe
go on safari. And let me tell you how expensive
(09:35):
safaris are. I look at these prices, I go, no,
this is for a family of eight. That's what I've heard.
It's gone on a safari, right, Yes, he's gone on too.
And how much did you spend amy It was about
ten thousand, and that is incredibly cheap. Was that a
cluse to the bear ferre.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I don't think so, but this was that was probably
then years ago, well a few years ago.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yeah, and ten thousand dollars. I'm sure you went on
one of the less expensive, cheaper safari. Oh you went
on a luxury safari. Oh yeah, wow, for only ten
thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
Yeah, okay, we did a group thing though we didn't
do we didn't go by ourselves. We had a group
like forty people.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Forty Oh you can get a Yeah, you can get
a pretty good discount with forty people going at one time.
And that's very cheap. Ten thousand dollars for a single
person on a safari, not including airfare. Also, keep in
mind airfare, you're in the air about about twenty four
hours of actual flying time to get to Africa. How's
(10:42):
that for fun? Huh? And it's and it's a bloody fortune.
I'm looking at these costs and I'm going, really, I
don't know if I want to spend that much money.
I mean, safaris are neat You get to see all
of the animals, the Big five. Unfortunately you don't get
to shoot them an enem any more. I mean, those
days are gone. On. No, no killing of animals. That
(11:04):
was fun when you could do that. And those you've
ever seen pictures of Teddy Roosevelt when he was doing
the Africans apart was faring. I mean he was on
top of rhinos and elephants he killed and all. I
mean that they don't do that anymore. Well, they were
now dangered, probably back then even yeah, I don't think
they were. And then you have you sit on those vehicles.
(11:25):
How many were in those vehicles that you were on.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Amy, We had probably nine or ten okay in the vehicles?
Speaker 1 (11:34):
All right? Did you take a balloon ride?
Speaker 2 (11:36):
He did? That was one of the best things that
we did, worth every cent.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
It were it was was it twenty people in the balloon?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
It was a very large balloon.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, you get a lot of people in your you
know it almost I've done that. And some of the
downsides is if you're going to go on a balloon ride,
you want to go on a balloon that's not that crowded.
Because if you've ever seen a documentary on Emperor Penguin's
what happens in the middle of the dead of winter,
how some go on the outside for a few minutes
and then they go on the inside and they go
back and forth. That's what happened to you. I know
(12:08):
that for a fact. You keep moving, migrating from the
center to the outside.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
That's ours was set up that we all had a
view the whole time. I don't remember how many people
were in it. I'd have to go look. Maybe it
was more like a dozen.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
That Sarah is still pretty impressive for the big baskets
because you can put up to twenty people in the
big basket. It's waiting for you to drop out of
the sky.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Oh yeah, you up there, like look, here comes lunch.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh absolutely, all right. Here's a story that I've been
covering for years and years, and it has to do
with defective airbags and how millions have been recalled and
still not being fixed. From twenty fifteen to twenty twenty four,
twelve million vehicles were recalled for safety defects that could
(12:53):
result in air bags not deploying. We're just talking air
bags here. These recalls, thirty seven of them in total,
including GM Cars, Ford Cars, Mercedes, Benz Audi, and around
twenty two percent that's two point six million, remain unfixed.
(13:14):
This is a story from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
and the journal found that twelve people. This is a
Wall Street Journal story. I've found the twelve people died
not very much, but a lot of people have been
really injured. When an air bag goes south, shrapnel can
actually be created and goes through you. Although if you
(13:35):
look at statistically, you want an air bag in your vehicle.
What you don't want is an air bag. It doesn't work.
And you have these air bags, safety experts agree that
they are a crucial feature save thousands and thousands of
lives since they became standard equipment in new cars about
four decades ago. And so the NHTSA also has been
(14:01):
considering are we requiring and estimated forty nine million cars
with air bags using parts from one supplier that could
rupture when it's deployed, and counterfeit air bag parts are
also being used. Boy, that is crazy stuff. So here
(14:21):
was my question that I had, and I did this
years ago because to not guy, I think is a
Japanese company that made just a huge number of air
bags for cars, and they had twenty million of them
out there and there was a recall of the majority
of them. And so let's say you get a recall
(14:43):
notice and you're really and you want your car recalled
and you're really pissed off. So let's say eight million
people going to get their car recalled, and you're not
happy with where you are. Someone has to be seven
million in nine hundred ninety nine thousand, nine ninety nine
(15:03):
on that list. And it's not going to happen tomorrow. Okay,
that's one problem, And how severea gets here's another problem.
Then the NHTSA they don't specify how serious a recall
is or not. There have been recalls simply because a
page was missing from the from the manual, so they
(15:26):
recall the manual redid it also on break parts not working.
So the answer is, or one of the answers is
to sort of increase the severity of the not so
much the punishment towards a manufacturer, but the way that
(15:49):
you and I are being approached by and informed by
the manufacturers. It's just it's a one it's one page
that comes in an envelope in his first class mail
and it says your car has been recalled, and a
lot of people are saying, you know, people throw those
away because it's just another car. Either advertising or some
(16:14):
kind of a spiff. If I'm just getting these from
BMW right now, my lease is up and I'm getting
an email plus a, I'm getting a letter that says, hey,
your car lease, you have seventeen months to go. We're
going to put you in a new one for the
same price. Give me a break, like I'm going to
do it. But here is what the NHTSA is thinking of,
(16:36):
and it makes a lot of sense, and that is,
do what the big pharma is doing, or more importantly,
do what big Tobacco did with cigarette smokes smoke and
on the cigarette packs, put these really hard hitting messages
smoking will cause cancer in big letters. Recall if you
(17:01):
don't recall your car, serious damage or death may happen.
And put those in big letters across the envelope. Now
is that going to get my attention? Hell? Yes, okay.
Here is a story I want to share it with
your last one and it's entitled the Snake is Back.
(17:23):
And what does that mean? Well, Moholland Highway a one
and a half two point four mile stretch. It was
burnt down or the Wolseley fire burnt down the area
in twenty eighteen there were month slides the next year.
So what the county did, and this is County land
up there for more than six years, couldn't do it,
(17:47):
could not go around the corners of that stretch of
Mulholland Highway is dangerous as hell, and it certainly was
why speeding motorists, car races, collisions, people died like crazy.
(18:07):
If you've ever been to that area and I have,
it's winding curves, you cannot see who's ahead of you,
and people who drive there are nuts. They are completely
out of their minds. And I try to stay away,
but sometimes it's the only way you can go in
any case. Here's what the county did, a new set
(18:28):
of safety improvements, hoping that this dangerous reputation for real
reasons can somehow be shed. New curve warning signs, tightened intersections,
updated road strips, safety ballards. Wait, what's the ballard? By
the way? Are those those bumps in the highway? Ballard?
(18:51):
The ballards aren't they they're the I don't know. They're
like the big things that keep their posts that keep
you from going all those metal that metal fencing is
that with ballards? Yeah? Okay, don't know. Rumble strips. That one.
I don't know either.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
There are the little bumps on the road that.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Bumps on the rollers are rumble strips.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Ballards are there. They are like at the entrance to
Third Street promenade, they have ballards up that block cars
from getting onto.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
The bab I see the metal posts. Yeah, that block
car So were you now think about that ballards in
the middle of the road. That does slow people down.
There's no question about it. Putting up ballards is the
end all be all. But during the Woolsey fire, wow,
(19:47):
ninety seven thousand acres in Malibu alone. Uh, the snake's
guard rails, that's what those are on this side. Uh,
they actually all melted. The pavement actually burns, and there
was a bridge that was destroyed. So there is a
program called Vision zero. I guess that refers to you
(20:12):
losing your eyesight while driving in the road and getting
into a car accident. Maybe not, Maybe I have that wrong.
And La County established a goal to reach zero traffic
deaths on its roadways unincorporated roadways that's where La County
has jurisdiction. By twenty thirty five county roadways, more than
(20:35):
seventy five people die every year on those county roadways.
So you can now drive with impunity on the snake.
The snake is back, all right? What to give me
the weird look? Will? What all you heard is the
(20:58):
snake is back. I wasn't talking about pleasuring yourself or no,
none of that. Okay, No one was. Well, he was questioning.
He was questioning what I meant by the snake is back? Okay,
Well that also can refer to, okay, we are done
(21:21):
with the show. You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
Catch My Show Monday through Friday, six am to nine am,
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