KABOOM!!! That’s kinda fun on the holidays isn’t it? Well, the pyrotechnics in a car can be satisfying as well. Satisfying to your wallet that is. I’m sure you’ve heard how “dangerous” air bags can be. Well they can be dangerous, but at the same time, they are pretty safe, too.

An electronically controlled air bag requires a sufficient voltage and ground supplied to it or it will not detonate. Notice I specified “electronically controlled.” There are some older models that were mechanically activated. I encountered one such style years ago on a 1991 Jaguar XJS. The driver’s air bag on that vehicle actually detonated by mechanical means of the steering shaft bumping a pin in the back of the bag. There was a disarming bolt that had to be backed out in order to remove the bag. Even with the bag disarmed, that one still made me a little nervous, knowing that I...