The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says passenger airbags in some 2009 Chevrolet Impalas may have a potentially deadly flaw. Not only could the devices fail to inflate in a crash, but the inflator tube could rupture and hurl pieces of it at passengers. Sounds pretty bad, but there is good news for most Impala owners. According to NHTSA, the recall will only affect 79 Impalas, and not all of them will need replacement. Airbags found to be faulty will be completely replaced under the recall campaign at GM service centers.

The Autoblog staff probably spends way too much time thinking about cars, and sometimes we find ourselves doing goofy things, as well. We can say that we've never fooled around with triggering air bags, but we're sure there are a few of you out there who have. One such person wanted to see what would happen if he hooked up a steering wheel air bag to a lead acid battery and set it off... while it was sealed inside a home appliance. Luckily for us those thoughtful farmers/junk car collectors caught the action on tape, and it's explosive to say the least.

Due to the continuing evolution of safety standards, high speed car-on-car impacts have made life better for everyone inside the cars. Now, even pedestrians get love from some car makers in the form of hoods that pop up when the car senses a pedestrian impact, so that the walker doesn't hit the engine block. Now, the Dutch Cycling Federation wants to know: what about us? The federation is asking for exterior airbags to protect cyclists in collisions with cars.

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