Airbag

The observant amongst you will note that the centre of my steering wheel looks very shiny and new. That’s because it is. Both Mrs C and I received a letter a couple of weeks back, advising us that the driver’s airbags on our respective BMWs needed replacing because - and I quote - “if you are involved in a collision the airbag may deploy with too much explosive force, causing sharp metal fragments to be released into the cabin. It has the potential to fatally or seriously injure vehicle occupants.”
Well, that certainly got my attention. I was on the phone straight away and both cars were booked in, though it couldn’t be done until this morning. In the meantime, it was like playing Russian Roulette each time we went out in the cars - if we survived a collision, would we then be shredded by shrapnel? Certainly made you concentrate on avoiding bumping into anything!
But all was put right by 10am and we even got a free mini valet. Due to the early start and the weather being mainly dry, we were even able to do some productive work in the garden. Trees and shrubs were cut back and I cleaned all the leaves out of the drainage channel that runs across the drive so that any rain that falls will head into the drains and not the garage.
And it seems the airbags might have been replaced not a moment too soon as there have been two accidents today within a mile of our house, both bad enough to close the roads for a while - I hope there are no serious injuries, and it just a case of removing the damaged vehicles.
There but for the grace of God etc etc….

Update: very sadly, I heard much later that there had been one fatality. Thoughts are with those affected.