!! BOOM !!
Imagine that you are looking for a parking spot along the road near your favorite pub...
meandering along barely at 10 miles per hour
slowing down to pull into a spot your husband passes up for you...
See, my husband ( @beardo ) always passes up the first empty spot when we are following each other, so that I can have the space closest. Isn't he a keeper?
We parked gently, and I put our Kia Sedona mini van into the "park" position and take my foot off of the brake.
My daughter, @bookmarked, was sitting in the passenger seat... checking her social media. Nothing new or crazy there.
I picked up my phone to text my husband to let him know that we would go on into the restaurant and place an order so it could be "in the works" while he parked to join us.
Then... all of the sudden, a deafening noise hit us out of nowhere..
What the?!!
When i opened I eyes, the windshield was the first thing I could see... it was cracked in several places!
Were we shot at???
My ears were ringing with the one high pitch tone you hear depicted on the cop shows...
oh great... what has happened???
In the next split second, I hear @bookmarked say, "I can't hear anything!!"....
In that moment as the van filled with smoke and debris, I realized the passenger airbag had deployed.
No reason... just sitting still... parked.... unprovoked.
We were both coughing and trying to get out of our seat belts... I just kept saying, "Get out get out get out!". I finally released our seat belts and ran around to the passenger side to get her out.
She had gotten out and we embraced each other in the street as smoke rolled out of the van door.
This is a photo of her neck right after it happened, taken in the street near the van.
This is a day after:
This 4 days later:
Several hours later in the evening, @beardo and a cousin came to move the van to a more secure parking lot. I refused to sit in the front seat... so @beardo's cousin sat in the passenger seat and I sat in the back behind him. We had not gotten far down the road, maybe half a block, when the side passenger airbag discharged!!
!! BOOM !!
A second one??!!!
The bag didn't come out but the charge definitely sounded off..... time to park this van for good!!!!
The insurance company totaled the van. I think they said the dash was over 7 grand to replace... and it was a 2008 model.
Oddly enough, I hate that we had to surrender the van. It was so handy when we needed to tote friends and family around. What really makes me mad is that we had just put brand new tires on it, and a brand new battery! Grrr. And of course the insurance pay out will not come close to replacement.
But... what is important is that my baby girl had protection from above... because It could have been much worse... she could have suffered much worse injury or even death according to some reports I have read. We are thankful that what we had to deal with was minor....
PUBLIC SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT:
Never ever put your feet on the dash... ever..
You do not know when these airbags will deploy!
We checked... and there were no recalls for our make model or year. There are recalls on some airbags, for this very thing... but not assigned to our particular model and year. (there should have been!)
It has been several weeks now and @bookmarked is all healed up from the airbag burn... but she no longer enjoys sitting in the front seat. Can't say that I blame her.
Remember... stay away from the dash.
Wow what a crazy story I can only imagine the fright you must have had, its like the car basically attacked you guys for no reason with a safety precaution no less, how ironic. You guys are so lucky too, that could have been a ticking time bomb, didn't know that it was so powerful, but I guess the factor that in based on being involved in a crash.
Poor @bookmarked sporting the battle scars of it all.
I'm glad you're both ok and gosh I'll never take the dash of my car for granted ever again.
FYI I have also selected your post as my @Pifc post of the week and you can find my nomination post [here](https://steemit.com/payitforward/@chekohler/week-50-pay-it-forward-curation-entry) and more about the curation program [here](https://steemit.com/payitforward/@pifc/week-50-pay-it-forward-curation-contest). You are also most welcome to join us each week and help find authors who should be getting a little extra reward
Wow thank you so much!! That’s cool!
I’m glad I was not driving!! I would have panicked! (Even more)
@bookmarked is doing great... she wore the battle wounds like a boss :) We are working on getting her steemit going again... gotta find her password :)
@jeejee
I'm just glad everyone's ok. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if her feet were on the dashboard. Bless the Most High for His protection!
Right!?? And she had the habit of doing that beforehand.... so glad that she did't at that time!! She has said, nope, won't be doing that ever again!!
That is crazy to think that the airbag could just go off like that! And then it happened AGAIN!!!!! WOW!!! Praise Yah for His protection, sorry for the loss of the vehicle but yeah it was time for it to go!
Thanks for sharing your story and giving us all another reminder about vehicle safety..NO FEET ON DASHBOARD!!!
Right?! No feet on the. Dash! :)
Thank you for stopping by to read my blog :)
@jeejee
Wow!! That is totally nuts! I'm glad that you guys are all ok. Yes, the feet on the dashboard thing is a definite no-no, but I've never heard of the airbags being deployed like yours!
I found your post because @chekohler featured you in a Pay it Forward Curation Contest entry! Feel free to join us any week with an entry of your own if you'd like :)
Thank you .. I will check it out :) awesome. So glad you came by!
You're welcome @jeejee :)
Ouch... how terrifying! and there is still no reason why they deployed? Lucky that there was no serious injury then.
I have visited as you were featured by @chekohler for the @pifc Curation Contest!
We are thankful it was not worse... and not even the mechanic found anything wrong. No damage anywhere for it to spontaneously go off. So crazy!
I was featured? Oh wow, that’s cool! Thanks for letting me know! I’ll go check them out!
@jeejee
Having had the airbags save my life, I definitely do agree that though saving your life, they beat the cr*p out of you. *Which kind of makes sense since they inflate by an explosion of NaN3.
When I slammed my head into mine, it was like receiving a huge punch to the nose, leaving it blue and hurting for at least a solid week.
And the white smoke/debris you've mentioned... Yep, it fills the cabin as if you'd turn on the smoke machine inside.
Glad you two didn't get majorly hurt.
Hopefully you never experience the airbag deploying ever again!
@davidkain, yes I’m am too glad that it wasn’t worse. Sorry bout your nose! I know that had to smart! I tripped a few weeks ago... it was cold and I had my hands in my pocket—- and did a face plant. My nose!! It hurt sooo bad. I had a bloody nose but it wasn’t broke. Noses are sensitive! Ouch!
Yeah they say 200 mph for those airbags.... crazy!
I’m an ex paramedic, so I know they help... but NOT while I’m parked 😂😂😂
@jeejee
I feel somewhat bad for laughing at your face plant, but at the same time it remembered me of all my past face plants, which also make me laugh, so... Hope it's a little more okay for also laughing at myself :3
Maybe your car had a nightmare and crashed in its dream! ;D
Hahaha!! It’s totally ok to laugh at my faceplant... I wasn’t laughing back then, but I do laugh now 🤪
I think the van very well could have had a bad dream! 🤷🏻♀️
@jeejee
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Cool! Thanks so much!
I imagine the fear: what a crazy story!
The important thing is that nothing serious has happened to @bookmarked!
Beyond insurance, have you reported the incident to the manufacturer, perhaps through a valid lawyer, to claim damages?
We have explored many possibilities but it would cost more to hire a lawyer .. and right now we just don’t have the resources to do that. But a great idea if we were able :) thank you
@jeejee
Wow! That's crazy!
I have an inherent distrust of air bags - something designed for people who don't wear seatbelts... So the rest of us have no need for them... Plus the whole reason they don't want children sitting in the front seats anymore is because they are at risk from airbags. But I'm only the height of my 12-year-old daughter. So, I am always at risk.
I found you because @chekohler featured you in the Pay it Forward Curation Contest - keep up the great work!
@viking-ventures, sorry for the delayed reply.... i Just now seen your comment. I never really gave much thought to the airbags, simply because I have been in minor accidents without a deployment... and being an ex-EMT/Paramedic, I know how beneficial they "can" be... but I still never had an issue of distrust for them.... howeverrrrrrrrr...... now I am super Leary of them. I have had our other vehicles checked out.... but they say there is no real maintenance to do for them. So what to do??
Thanks for stopping by... and I think its super cool that this was nominated!! Thank you @chekohler for that nomination!
@jeejee