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(April 1999, South Africa) In South Africa, car-jacking has become popular in recent years. The South African law has lenient provisions for self defence, and allows "lethal action" if someone's personal property is in danger. Citizens are inventive in creating martial security systems for their cars. Poison gas, acid showers, flamethrowers and automatic gunfire are not unknown.
One such security system relied upon an airbag installed in the car roof. If a driver sat down without disabling the mechanism, the airbag would inflate and hit the victim atop his head
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with a force strong enough to render him unconscious.
And that is exactly what happened to Pieter Niewoudt, who, armed with a pistol, attempted to steal this vehicle. When the airbag exploded, he thought that someone was shooting at him, and he instinctively fired the pistol twice. Unfortunately for him, his gun was still in his pocket at the time.
One bullet hit his knee, and the other lodged in the base of his penis. The consequences of his injuries may include sterility, making him a contender for the 1999 Darwin Award.
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Submitted by Sebastian M
Reference: . Der Spiegel, No. 14 (4/5/99) p.206
Frank Olivier said,
"I question the authenticity of this story. I have lived in South Africa
for 20 years, yet have never heard or seen any mention of this incident. I
could not find any mention of it in South African newspapers, nor in
international newspapers. And Der Spiegel is not the most reliable source
of news regarding African events. We do not have "lenient provisions for
self defense." The South African constitution provides for the human
rights of all citizens, criminals included, and the anti-hijacking
mechanism described above is illegal. Had this event in fact occurred, the
car owner would have been arrested; this factoid would then almost
certainly have made it into the Der Spiegel article. I am amazed that you
published this drivel as a true story."
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Airbag Weapons
