8. Robin Armstrong
Social media comedian Robin Armstrong was launched 10 feet in the air when an airbag placed under his
seat exploded, in June 2020. Known as Baldy Geordie on Facebook, he was engaged in a
longstanding “prank war” with his girlfriend who had set up the stunt. The incident was filmed for
his page and showed the 30-year-old comedian sitting on a makeshift seat of tires before
being thrown into the air and half landing on the inflatable pool set up in front of him.
Left groaning on the ground, someone got close-up footage of his face as he complained of difficulty
breathing. A trip to the closest hospital showed the stunt had fractured his spine and,
after coming off 15 weeks of lockdown, he was forced into another 3 weeks of bed rest to
heal. His girlfriend was not aware of just how much pressure an airbag inflates with.
It was impressively able to launch Armstrong, who weighed an estimated 245 pounds,
10 feet in the air. The social media star urged his followers
not to try the stunt for themselves but posted the clip to his page nonetheless. He apologized
for the dangerous mishap by ordering 30 pizzas for the NHS staff that helped him recover.
7. Kristian Edwards
In July of 2019, Kristian Edwards and her son were driving in the family’s Model 3 Tesla
when they were involved in an accident on the I-95 Interstate highway. The accident, apparently
caused by another car hitting them and sending their vehicle crashing into the guardrail, was
made infinitely worse when every airbag in the car failed to deploy. A public health professor at the
George Washington University, Edwards was wearing her seatbelt but still suffered severe injuries
and major head trauma while her son was left with back pain. The family filed a lawsuit against
Tesla who had boasted that the Model 3 was the “safest car ever built” and had the lowest risk of
injury after government testing. Nonetheless, the Edwards lawsuit argued that there was something
fundamentally wrong with some of the car’s safety features, given their experience. Tesla didn’t
immediately respond to the case but the family was seeking monetary compensation for medical bills,
Kristian’s lost earning capacity, and the physical and mental suffering caused by the accident.
6. Joanne & Rick Yuke
While showing their visiting family the beautiful Saskatchewan prairies,
Joanne and Rick Yuke were driving along in their 2006 Honda Odyssey EX when its airbags
randomly deployed. The incident occurred during the Canadian Thanksgiving holidays,
in October of 2017, and the family had been driving under the speed limit along a straight,
level gravel road when the side airbags went off with a violent bang. Along with being shaken up,
Joanne revealed the sudden deployment left her ears ringing while Rick suffered shoulder and
head pain. This was the second time this incident had occurred to the Yukes after the car’s airbags
randomly deployed 2 years earlier. No one was injured the first time but in both cases there
was no crash, no collision, and no reason for the airbags to deploy. Honda replaced the airbags the
first time as a gesture of goodwill, but after the second time refused to help. Despite experts
saying otherwise, the car manufacturer blamed the driver, the gravel road, and small modifications
made to the car such as a trailer hitch. The Yukes attempted to make a deal with Honda Canada
to trade in the car and pay a couple of thousand dollars for another used vehicle,
but no agreement was reached and the couple resigned to leaving the dangerous car,
unused, with the airbags still hanging down. Similar incidents had been reported with owners
taking the onus as insurance companies wouldn’t pay out if there’d been no collision or accident.
5. Jewel Brangman
One of the biggest automotive recalls in U.S history was centered on defective airbags,
which were connected to the deaths of 8 people, by 2014. Included in that list, is the passing
of 26-year-old Jewel Brangman, a former long-term girlfriend of actor Scott Eastwood. On September
the 7th of 2014, she was driving from San Diego to Los Angeles in a rented 2001 Honda Civic when she
was involved in a minor fender bender that led to her death. The small accident triggered her car’s
defective airbags which blasted metal shrapnel through her throat after inflating with too much
force. Brangman had been taking a year off to try her hand at modeling before starting her Ph.D. The
news was devastating to her single father who went on to sue Honda, the airbag manufacturer,
and her car’s rental company for wrongful death. A report revealed that the chemical
the manufacturer used to inflate the airbags could become unstable under certain conditions,
causing the metal canister inside to explode. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount
allowing her father to dedicate the rest of his life to advocacy groups against defective
products. It took reportedly 2 years, after Brangman’s death, for Eastwood to reach out to
her father and acknowledge her death, eventually earning his apology for never reaching out.
4. Ronald Smith
Retired engineer Ronald Smith was driving home through Hartlepool,
England, on November the 12th of 2010 when he was involved in a 6-car bumper-to-bumper accident.
The accident wasn’t serious, but through a series of unfortunate events, Smith got a face full of
noxious fumes when a falling shard from a broken window ruptured his inflating airbag. Shaken,
but seemingly unharmed from the crash, he returned home without needing to go to a hospital. Upon
his return, his wife noticed his face was irritated from the contents of the bag and,
as the days went on, Smith developed a cough and shortness of breath. The days turned into weeks
as the previously fit and active 59-year-old became more and more hindered by his breathing
problems. Eventually, by January, his condition was so poor that he could barely move,
and was taken to the hospital by his wife. He was given oxygen immediately and, just a day later,
was admitted to intensive care. A forensic pathologist said Smith’s lungs were extremely
heavy and firm. On January the 31st he passed away from bronchial pneumonia.
A spokesperson for the Automobile Association said they had no record of any similar deaths
and that airbags usually release nitrogen which is not hazardous. However, his death
was recognized as a result of the exploding airbag and was officially classified as a misadventure.
3. Huma Hanif
In 2013, a series of deaths and injuries caused by faulty airbags led Honda and Japanese
automotive manufacturer Takata Corporation to recall 3.6 million cars. Unfortunately,
the Hanif family, like many others, was never aware and unknowingly continued to drive a car
that was nothing more than a moving death trap. On March the 31st of 2016, 17-year-old Huma Hanif
was driving her 2002 Honda Civic, which was still on the road 3 years after the recall, to her job
in Richmond, Texas. She was involved in a fender bender. Given the damage, the high school senior
should have been able to walk away from the accident, but instead she only just made it out
the door before collapsing on the ground. A faulty airbag had caused a small explosion that launched
metal shrapnel into the side of her neck, severing several arteries. An investigation into the crash
confirmed her vehicle to be among the millions that had been recalled. As the number of deaths
associated with the airbags continued to grow, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
in the U.S, ordered an additional recall of more than 42 million cars across the nation. Honda made
assurances that notices of the recall had been sent to them, prior to the accident, but the Hanif
family was adamant they hadn’t received them. They filed a wrongful death lawsuit against all parties
involved including Honda, Takata, and the local car dealer. By the end of 2016, a settlement was
reached for an undisclosed amount. Less than a year later, in June of 2017, Takata Corporation
filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by another company.
Today's topic was requested by frogger74, Tanking Trucker, Argyle Boi and CreoleSmile.
If you have any other topics you'd like to learn about subscribe & let us know in the
comments section below 2. Anthony Amoros
A recent high school graduate, 18-year-old Anthony Amoros loved cars and was halfway
through his first year studying auto mechanics at Rockland Community College, in New York, when he
was involved in a car crash. It was January of 2013 and he was on the way to his job when he
lost control of the car on a windy, icy stretch of road. He crashed into a tree, just outside the
municipal golf course, and lost his life when an airbag failed to deploy. Unbeknownst to him
or his family, until after the tragic event, the 2003 Mazda Protégé which he’d recently purchased
from a used car lot contained no airbags. However, there was a loophole in New York state law that
allowed the sale of cars without functioning or even present airbags. It was a loophole that
Amoros’ family vowed to fight after his untimely passing. Calling it a common-sense and life-saving
measure, they first worked with legislators to craft a bill that would require retailers
to disclose if a car’s airbags were missing or malfunctioning before a sale. In the end,
they took it further and decided to put forward that airbags should be included in the list of
required vehicle equipment, along with other safety devices like seatbelts. In his honor,
they named it Anthony’s law and hoped his legacy would live on to help others.
1. Rekeyon Barnette
Despite over 100 reported warnings from Honda, the Takata airbag scandal continued to claim victims
almost a decade after their initial recall. On January the 8th of 2021
South Carolina driver Rekeyon Barnette became the 19th victim of a faulty Takata airbag in the U.S
after he was involved in a crash while making a left turn. As with the other victims,
the crash shouldn’t have claimed his life, but the canister holding the airbag exploded,
propelling its lid right into Barnette’s mouth and sticking in his throat. Succumbing to his
injuries later, the cause of death was proven to be the result of severe trauma to his lower face.
A scathing review emerged to explain what happened stating “Takata’s descent into greed, death,
and failure begins with its choice to move from an expensive, rare but stable propellant to a cheap,
common, but volatile alternative”. Barnette, who had bought the Accord in question as a used car,
wasn’t the registered owner and it’s unclear if he knew that this car fell under the recall.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather be in a car crash without an airbag or boat
crash without a lifejacket? Let us know in the comments section below!