You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand, I AM.
Six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany, and we're here until seven o'clock and then Michael Monks comes aboard. At six thirty. I invite you to make sure you are listening.
We will be talking to Marcus Coval. He is that marathon runner, mma fighter, all things, but most proud to be a dad who was on a courageous mission to bring awareness about what happened to his son Liam almost one decade ago, and in the pursuit of justice for his son, Liam is running the La Marathon tomorrow barefoot and hopes to be able to raise awareness about driving while drunk and the blood alcohol content level which Liam's foundation,
Liam's Life Foundation is working to lower to point zero zero two. So we have Marcus on to talk about all of that at six thirty. Now let's get into our Deeper Dives segment where we take a deeper look, more of a look at an issue that is affecting southern California. And this segment we're going to ask the question, how safe are your neighborhood streets. Now, statistics show that crime around Los Angeles as a county is in fact
down major crime. When we're out there, the optics matter, so you may not feel like crime is in fact down, And there are many crimes that are up, they have increased. One of the crimes that's down is luckily murder. Homicide is down, but something that has been rising steadily is vehicular homicide. And car crashes overall, be them severe or minor,
due to the conditions on on Los Angeles streets. And I'm not talking about just potholes or dimly lit intersections because the copper is gone and there are no street lights. While those are all factors, this has to do more with driver error, impairment, speeding, and other factors.
So let's get into it.
When you think about driving on LA streets, you might, like me, immediately start to tense up a bit. If you've driven, which most of us do because this is a commuter city, then you've experienced traffic, You've experienced aggressive
driving and drivers. You may have been flipped the bird or done the bird flipping because someone cut you off or didn't thank you for letting them merge whatever the case, driving in Los Angeles is a contact sport, and that's not a sport that we should be contacting each other, especially when we're dealing with our vehicles. The last thing you want to do is have an accident. However, accidents are increasing, and everywhere you look there are billboards for
accident attorneys personal injury traffic accidents. They're on the back of buses, they're on the bus benches, or on the billboards. When you're driving, they are literally everywhere. Because personal injury due to vehicular crashes again has increased exponentially, and again, many residents around LA agree that driving has become increasingly more dangerous. Many can look back to the early days of the pandemic, of which we are now five years practically from the start to the day of the COVID
nineteen pandemic. During the lockdown period, of course, the streets were empty.
We loved it.
We were driving if you were driving anywhere within that twenty minute kind of stereotype about Los Angeles very antiquated at this that you can get anywhere around LA in twenty minutes.
Long gone or those days.
But during the pandemic there was a resurgence of that you could get anywhere, and you could get anywhere quickly and relatively safely because the streets were empty. But as things opened back up and we returned to normal in the months after March when the pandemic first began, of course, traffic was one of the most noticeable increases, one of the most noticeable returns to normalcy. La is synonymous with traffic, and now five years later, the statistics for collisions across
the board, in severity, have gone up. In twenty twenty four, data was collected for certain areas. There are certain areas around La County that have it really, really bad. They are considered to be the worst areas for traffic collisions. And let me tell you a bit about those areas. Now, pay attention to this because it's likely that you drive
on these roads. If you come to the intersection of Devonshire and Resita out there in Northridge that has been flagged as one of the most dangerous intersections in California, Devonshire and Resita. If you're still out there in the San Fernando Valley and you find yourself at Balboa and Nordoff, you are at yet another intersection that tops the lists due to its wild traffic patterns and frequent congestion. If you go to Supovida and Sherman Way, yet another valley intersection,
this one sees a lot of commuter traffic. It's a thoroughfare, and accidents usually occur due to speeding and improper lane changes. People are trying to get where they want to go. They're not necessarily doing it safely. If you find yourself on freeways, which we all do, I'll be hopping on the one on one shortly to get back to my area.
If you're on the four or five, you are experiencing the least safe interstate in all of California, arguably in all of the United States, due to its traffic jams and accident rates, especially during those peak hours of morning commutes and your afterwork rush, and those times seem to have blurred even more so. At first we could really define what those periods were, your morning commute and traffic, and your evening commute. But now it seems that traffic
is all day and sometimes all night long. If you find yourself on the five and you are near San Diego, the five has been ranked as one of the deadliest freeways in all of California, and it has seen its
own spike in accidents since the pandemic. If you get on the one on one like I am, and you're going through downtown LA, which I fortunately will not be going through Downtown La, that freeway, the one on one near downtown the five and the ten interchange, is considered to be one of the worst freeways for averaging averages for crashes per mile. It's considered a high risk freeway.
So what factors are contributing to these high accident rates? Again, you can point to poor lighting in certain areas, perhaps residential areas. Sure, you can point to potholes after rain, absolutely, But the main issues are heavy traffic volume, distract it driving, Hello, distract it driving.
You look over and you're in traffic.
Everyone's on their cell phone, everyone's manipulating their screen. There speeding, everyone thinks they're in the new Vin Diesel movie. We're all fast and furious, trying to get where we gotta go right. Driving under the influence, and this is a touchy topic, and we'll be getting into this more with our interview with Marcus Coval. But driving under the influence, whether it is alcohol or whether it's something else, some
other substance. We see lots of young people using alternative substances. Those issues impair judgment and motor skills like crazy, and they are very prevalent on our Southern California streets. And then again lastly, you can point to regular road conditions that can lead to accidents, inadequate signage again, poor condition for the roads.
But overall, there's.
Been a twenty nine percent increase in traffic accidents since the pandemic in the last five years, compared to a twelve percent increase nationwide. So we've more than doubled the national average for increases in traffic accidents in Los Angeles.
And there are dangerous times to drive.
There are situations that are in environments that are more accident prone than others. I'll tell you when the worst times to drive are, as well as other factors that are contributing to our dangerous streets, including street takeovers and other issues that are plaguing Los Angeles. And some of the ways in which our city leadership is aiming to combat what's going on to make our roads safer. We'll talk about that on the other side of the break.
And then at six point thirty. We have Marcus Colval coming on, so stay tuned for that.
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand if I AM.
Six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you, and we're continuing our Deeper Dives segment where we take a closer look at an issue that directly impacting Southern California, California at large, even and this one specifically deals with the question of why are our LA streets so unsafe for drivers? And you might be yelling that answer into your radio, and I understand you.
I hear you. Stop yelling at me. I hear you. I know why they're unsafe. You know why they're unsafe.
We're all on there together, and we see day in and day out causation.
We see day in and day.
Out, poor drivers, bad habits, poor roads, and the like. So we can all list many of the ways in which these issues arise. But specifically, when we think about LA drivers and driving on our LA streets, a lot of the vehicular issues, a lot of the accidents are due to driver error, and some any of those errors can occur during very specific times. I was telling you where a lot of these accidents take place. Newsflash, Valley people, You guys have quite a few issues, a lot of
issues at your intersections, your major thoroughfares. But if we look at the times in which accidents are likely to occur, then maybe we can kind of avoid some of the patterns that we might find ourselves in so that we don't fall victim to these vehicular errors. So what are some of the more dangerous times to drive in and around Los Angeles Between seven and ten am? And you guessed it, four and seven p m. Seven to ten am and four to seven pm seven to ten am.
That's morning rush hour.
Everyone's trying to get to work, they're trying to get to school, or we're trying to get home from a late night.
Whatever it might be.
Morning rush at hour deals with people who are distracted, They're moving quickly, they maybe don't maintain a safe following distance, They're tired, they might be a bit agitated. Who knows. Many people aren't mourning people. You might not be. Maybe you are, but driving in the morning trying to get somewhere, especially if you're running late or something at home has stressed you out already. Can become a hazardous event. Weekend nights.
That's probably not news to anyone. Weekend nights. Tonight's today's Saturday, So tonight's a weekend, Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday night. Those nights are very risky. You have impaired drivers, whether they're drinking, whether they are doing something else, they're impaired. Perhaps you have tourists who are out who are trying to get home to their hotels and they're unfamiliar with the routes. You might see that. I see that quite a bit here near the studio. People are coming and
going from Universal Studios. You can tell that it's a visiting family. They're in a rental car and they don't know how to merge off the one oh one, and they almost take everyone out with them because they're just trying to get over on Barrom. Well, that's a big issue, and please keep visiting, but be careful. Be careful, of course. And then you have increased pedestrian activity in entertainment districts. So if you are near Santa Monica Promenade, you have
all those people out there walking. If you are near Third Street Promenade, all those people are out there walking if you are near Santa Monica Pier, you have all those people up and down PCCh and Ocean who are just you know, trying to get around and figure out their way, but they can become a hazard. And then you have special events and holidays. Well, we have a special event coming up. Monday is Saint Patrick's Day, and Saint Patrick's Day is typically associated with what drinking. It's
synonymous with being a drinking holiday. And with all of that drinking that's occurring throughout the day and evening, not everyone is getting back into their car. Sober people are driving, drunk people are driving tipsy. They think they got it, but they really don't. Uber and Lyft typically offer many specials, many freebies on these special event days and holidays like Saint Patrick's Day to try and thwart some of that
dui propensity, but not everyone takes it. And if you're in an Uber or a Lyft or a way Mo for that matter, and you get smacked by somebody who's drunk, you're not in good shape either way. So the best rule of thumb is, of course, not to go out and drink.
Stay at home. Stay at home and drink.
If you're going to find yourself driving and then and then there are even more times where issues occur, but the main times again seven to ten am, four to seven pm, weekend nights, and these special event days like Saint Patrick's Day, which is just around the corner. If you find yourself out on the roads tonight tomorrow, be very vigilant because you are going to be driving amongst people who are celebrating, who might be a bit buzz
might be a bit tipsy, whatever it is. And then you add this next factor in and it just takes a whole other turn the safety on La streets. That factor is the street takeover. You know what a street takeover is is when all those cars show up at one place and they block an intersection and you find cars doing tricks donuts, spinning around in circles in the middle of the intersection while others stand by and watch or crowd the intersection themselves, putting themselves at arm's way.
But you are now beholden to this spectacle that you did not sign up for, and until they leave, you are effectively stuck.
Well.
Street takeovers are a huge issue in the city of Los Angeles, and they have increased sixty four percent since October sixty four percent. There are hundreds of street takeovers happening all around Los Angeles, and because they are such an issue, because they have become such an added hazard, there are some ways in which the city is hoping to respond. One such way is offering youth education and prevention.
They're going into the schools and they're talking to students and they're saying, hey, don't involve yourselves in this activity. It's an issue. I don't know how successful that is. You ever talk to teenagers. You probably are a little cynical yourself, but it is a start. Another thing that's happening is that law enforcement is looking to enhance their coordination between agencies and they want to increase penalties for
organizers and spectators and issue even more tickets. They're also looking into city leadership identifying potentially designated spaces for legal street racing events. And then lastly, there's a new regional Task Force on street takeovers that will address what's going on. They're proposing ordinances to increase fines, expand penalties, and target spectators and organizers, amongst other things. So there are ways in which our city is looking to make us safer
but so far not so good. Something that is so very good is this upcoming conversation that we are going to have with Marcus Coval. He is a pro MMA fighter, self defense trainer, activists, and dedicated dad. He's running in the LA Marathon tomorrow in honor of his son, Liam, who was unfortunately killed.
By a drunk driver.
And we will hear from Marcus Cobal about Liam's life, foundation, his mission, and what he hopes to come out of this marathon and all of the publicity for this run when we come back. I am six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you.
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Kf I AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. It's Saturdays with Tiffany and I am very, very, very proud and inspired to talk to our next guest. As thousands of runners prepare for Tomorrow's LA Marathon, there is one runner in particular who is participating barefoot to push for stricter drunk driving laws. Professional MMA fighter, self defense expert and activists, Marcus Coval, will run the LA Marathon again barefoot less than two years after undergoing a hip replacement.
There are superheroes amongst us.
Everyone.
His mission to raise awareness and funds to lower the legal blood alcohol content limit to point zero five in California, a change that research shows could save over two thousand lives per year. In the United States, currently, our blood alcohol content level is point zero eight, so lowering it again would have dramatic dramatic results. Coval, a dedicated advocate
against drunk driving. Unfortunately and very sadly lost his fifteen monthote's son, Liam in twenty sixteen when a repeat offender hear me again, a repeat offender ran a red light and struck Liam's stroller. Since then, Coval has committed his life to fighting for stronger drunk driving laws through the Liam's Life Foundation, an organization he founded in his son's memory. Marcus Coval is running the twenty six point two miles Barefoot Why as a testament to resilience, perseverance, and the
power of pushing through pain for a greater purpose. His journey mirrors the physical and emotional trials he has endured since Liam's passing. His goal is to get Liam's Law, a bill to lower that BAC limit two point zero five reintroduced in California, a measure supported by the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering. There are similar laws across the world in Europe and Australia and even stateside in Utah, and that those laws have led to dramatic
increases in alcohol related fatalities. Liam's Life Foundation is calling on supporters to donate, spread awareness, and demand legislative change. Marcus Coval believes that with enough public support, California can become the next state and should become the next state to lead the life saving drunk driving prevention crusade. I would say this is a crusade in every way. Marcus Coval, thank you so much for your time and for being with us here at KFI.
Thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it.
No, thank you again.
I learned about you through social media as I have shared that we would be having this conversation, and others have sent me many posts going back to twenty sixteen because they recognized your story. After I shared that we would be talking on Instagram, people remembered what happened. It really made and left an impact on so many people, and that nine years later, we are here one day, just hours before the start of the LA Marathon, which
is yet another goal that you've set for yourself. I have a question for you, of everything that you do mma fighting your self defense classes. I was looking at your social media. You're teaching self defense to so many people. I plan hopefully to take a class from you of Yes, of everything that you do and have done, what is your most rewarding job.
That's a great question that I've never been asted for. It's hard to pick one because I know that they are all important. Teaching people to be empowered, to be able to stand up not just for themselves, but for others.
From you know, children who have been believed in knowing that the building the confidence to stand up for oneself would change the trajectory of their lives, to law enforcement offices and even military that work with you know able to go home to their families because of the training that they've received. So that's the one side on the self defense side. But self defense starts with awareness and nothing is more important to me today than saving lives in Lims in Liam's honors.
I think that if we were to ask people closest to you, especially your family. They would cite that your fatherhood, being a father is most likely the most rewarding job that they have experienced because your crusade, your mission stems from your love of family and speaking and in speaking about family, can you take some time tell us about Liam, your beautiful boy.
You know, Liam was fifteen months when we lost him, and you're right, you know, I've done a lot and nothing, nothing compares to becoming a father. It changed me as a as a man and my values and you know, wanting to make the world a better place for him, and you know, being someone in the industry that I am in. If someone would have told me that as seventy two year old woman was going I take my son's life, I would never leave them. And that's what happened.
And you know, I'm from Sweden originally and we have a point zero too vac over there. I wasn't aware of big of a problem of drunk driving is in the United States until this, so.
You know, it's a massive problem.
It's a massive problem that I think is wept under the rug way too often.
It is, it is, and I I've learned that since. But you know, I I it's hard to to to understand for anyone who's a parent, when you know, when what's more important in life in itself is uh is taken from you? How do you find a way back? And how can you how can you take that love that you have and and make something beautiful out of it? When when when this comes with the most I can't think of when it worse pain and I've I've endured a lot of pain as a professional fighter, and none
to lose my son son? Did I learn what real pain is? And it's not physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain?
Marcus, I think what you said there, I know what
you said there is extremely profound. How do you find a way back from tragedy, from some extenuating circumstance that could have halted everything and instead you found momentum, You found a purpose And I would like to talk about that purpose and Liam's Life Foundation if we can, if you stay with us for one more segment on the other side of the break, as well as what Liam's Life Foundation is striving to do through you tomorrow running in this marathon barefoot, and what you hope to gain
from all of the exposure, the donations and the spotlight that is now on this cause. Can we continue after the break? Absolutely, we are talking with Marcus Coval. He's a professional MMA fighter, a self defense trainer and activist, a father, and he started a foundation in his son Liam's honor after Liam was killed by a drunk driver in twenty sixteen. The crusade that Marcus Coval is on is nothing short of inspiring. It is it goes beyond
the pale. It defies words. And will continue talking to Marcus Coval about Liam's live foundation on the other side when we come back. KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Tiffany Hobbs here with you. Until seven you're.
Listening to KFI AM six forty on demand kf I.
AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app Tifnany Hobbs here with you for one final segment. Michael Monks is coming up at seven pm, so stay tuned for that. And if you've missed any part of tonight's show, please check it out at KFIAM six forty dot com. Go to the special features area of the website and this show, Michael Monks Show, and other shows will be listed right there and you'll be able to click on it and hear it in purpose. Hopefully, hopefully we'll live there forever.
We are having just a very moving, a very compassionate, and very honest conversation with activist, pro mma fighter, self defense trainer and one hell of a father Marcus Coval about his son Liam, the Liams Life Foundation, and it's worked to lower the blood alcohol content level in California two point zero five and the idea that you are able to find your way back. That's what Marcus said to us in the last segment, how he found his way back after what happened to his son in twenty
and sixteen. What happened to Liam, and Liam is so much more than what happened to him, and out of that immen's tragedy, unthinkable tragedy, the Liam's Life Foundation was started. And through the Liam's Life Foundation, your goal is to get Liam's Law passed. Can you tell us a bit about what that law is and any kind of pushback that you might be having, What how?
What can we do?
That's a great question. The Liam's Law is to lower the legal BAC from point oh eight to point oh five, something that's been done in more than one hundred countries already, so we already have the statistics. We know how many lives that that's going to save. In the United States, the loses over ten thousand lives a year. That's the equivalent of a jumbo jet crashing every single week. And there's few law introductions that come with so much statistics,
that come with so much silence. And not only that, there's very few laws that can be introduced that both save lives and save money. Because the American TAXPA is one hundred and twenty billion dollars a year in drunk I've been related costs, so we know that it will lower the amount of fatalities by at least twenty percent, which in the United States would be on the two thousand lives a year.
Wow, those statistics are staggering. You know, they really push you back when you hear again just how prevalent drunk driving is and what can be done and how many people can avoid such a conclusion if only legislation would be responsive, and Liam Law is hoping to meet that moment. Liam's Law, I really thank you for really holding the line in this way and pushing through these propositions so that you can help people again when you could have
just really sat back and done far less. You are dedicating your life to helping others and to saving the lives of others. But I do have a question for you, Marcus, and humor me. I see that you live in La, right, yes, so you know how terrible our La streets are. They are filthy, and you are running barefoot. How does one train to run barefoot on these La streets?
You know, I've had people reach out to say, oh, you know, concern with stepping on syringes on you know, stepped on gloss And I said, no, no, really, I was running with someone and then I stepped on glass. And it's hard to get a piece of glass out of the I said, once it's in there. But you have to watch where you step. It's the hardest part for me. And I've never gone more than I did twenty miles in a trail, but on asphalts, I've only
gone fifteen miles and you gotta watch your step. And the hardest thing tomorrow is going to be the soul of the foots. And you know it'll probably be every time I ran bare for this God blisters. And part of this is to show the opposition because yes there is a position what I'm willing to do, and also to show people that had a hypoplacement. A lot of times people give up you know, mobility and fitness and health because they think we can't come back from it.
So it's to show both for opposition, for others that I've gone through similar surgeries as well as for myself just to push through and to keep to show to myself as well, I'm what I am willing to do. This is not something that I'm saying might happen. This will happen. Points zero five will be their federal legal BSc at some point, and I will not until we get there.
Well, I am proud of you in advance.
I know we've never met, but just talking to your your heart really really comes out and comes through your sincerity and again your dedication to your family and specifically to Liam, and I think that you are an amazing part of his legacy and why his legacy will continue to live on and people will know who Liam Corval is forever because of you. How can people Marcus follow you, keep up with what you're doing?
What can they do?
Can I come out to the marathon tomorrow hold up signs, give us a little quick, little tidbit.
How can they find you?
I would love to see people tomorrow. Always helps to inspire us a lot. The way go to Liam's Lifestyle Org the people can donate to with saying or asking people to donate five four point five we have calculating it's going to cost us about two hundred thousand dollars to make Liam's Law, something that has been the goal and the vision since I was in the hospital when we thought our son was starting to make it. It
was declared andred and we donate this organst. There's something that's word to us as well that people stand up for organization. But that's where they can reach out to the local politicians. It's important to remember the politicians answer to us. We're constituents, and by making them understand how important this bill is, we can get it reintroduced and passed.
Because just in California alone, we lose over two hundred lives a year because California TAXPA is over twenty billion dollars a year in tax in don't driving related past such as productivity, property, legal or medical. And again I talk about fatalities. We're not even talking about the people they end up with brain damage, or the people that end up in a wheelchair, and the families that are
left behind. So you know, for me in many ways, even though Liam's younger siblings Nico, Luna and Milo is six months old now, they never got a chance to meet the older brother. But the true for other bands. I don't want other bands to ever have to experience the pain of losing a child. And unfortunately, you know this disease is and so on and some things that
we can change or step from happening. But these were kidding favorite stuff tomorrow, So please go to Liam's life thought or make you follow us on social media as well at remember Lillam's Life and my personal or Instagram is Atla mac cobal kow Al.
Marcus Corvill, thank you so much for being on with us. I'll make sure to link out your website as well again so people can donate, follow you and hopefully sign that petition to get that federal BAC but alcohol content level lower. Thank you so much, Marcus, and good luck tomorrow.
Thank you, I appreciate the time.
You're most welcome. Up next everyone, Michael Monks, so be here shortly. Have a wonderful weekend. Be safe, enjoy your Saint Patti's Day in a safe way. Please do not drink and drive. Call a friend or stay home if you so. If you so insist on drinking, do not drink and drive. Let this interview really inspire you and motivate you to do something different for a change. Have a great week and a safe weekend. I'll see you back here next Saturday. Rest in peace to that little eaglet.
It's been a blast. KFI AM six forty I see you Michael Monks live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
KFI AM six forty on demand