Talk about your irony

[alanmcorcoran]

I think airbags are pretty much standard on US cars since the mid 90's. They only go off once though and are pricey - I've heard that many used cars don't actually have them - either they went off already and weren't replaced or were removed/resold prior to resale. At one point they were seen as a seatbelt replacement, but since then it morphed more to a "supplemental" status. I personally witnessed a high speed pursuit crash of a Corvette into a tree (pretty much your basic "unmovable" object) back in the early nineties. This one apparently only had a driver's side bag - which deployed. Both of the (quite resilient) thieves survived, but the passenger seated booster left a bloody head-shaped imprint in the windshield. The windshield shattered, but was embedded with plastic wrap so all the pieces stayed nicely together. Both miscreants took off on foot - one escaped. Ironically, I think it was the one that put his head through the shield that got away (through my backyard.) The cops searched my house, attic and garage for the dude, but came up empty handed. (The tree was 30 feet directly in front of my front door.)