Today we bring you a dashcam video from a far off land, called "America." And what it shows is an airbag randomly exploded right into the middle of some guy's goddamn face, without the driver destroying the car first. Ouch.
Reddit user RacerX3888, who posted it to r/cars, said that he was driving along New York's Throgs Neck Bridge when he hit a piece of a plow that fell off:
There have been bad snow storms up in the north east. I drive a 97 civic with snow tires so I offered to carpool with a friend of mine. On the way home we ended up clipping a piece of plow that fell off while plowing the bridge. No damage to the front of the vehicle but it hit whatever sets off the airbags. This happening broke the front windshield as well. Now I'm in the middle of filing a claim to have the damage repaired. This may be the sword in the side for my little car. I've been thinking about a more reliable four door. Looks like it may be happening a bit faster.
Airbags use chemical explosives to cushion an impact, but in doing so they use tremendous force and can even cause injuries themselves. Luckily it sounds like the two occupants are okay as both airbags ended up deploying, but man does this sort of thing probably make you have a bad day.
Racerx3888 says that the estimate for repairs to the airbags and his newly-broken windshield comes out to 3,400 bucks, but that the car itself is only worth 2,000, so he may be looking for a new car.
Might I suggest a Campagna T-Rex? No airbags or windshield in that at all. You'll be good forever.