Got a pair of old glasses? You can test this easy at home!

Put your glasses on a large turnip and have it face up. One of those styrofoam mannequin heads is even better, but a turnip would do. Take a piece of flat wood and place it on top. Then gradually add weights on top of this until you get to about 18kg. This simulates the actual pressure of an explosively inflating and then deflating nylon bag, which is what the airbag does. Then remove the pressure and check:

• Did the nose pads and frames dig into the turnip? How deep? That’s the most likely wound you’re going to get.

• Did the lenses pop out, and if yes, did they go outwards like they’re actually supposed to? If not, invest in better frames.

• Are the lenses cracked? That’s extremely unlikely for modern lens, which are 99 times out of 100 made of some kind of plastic (like polycarbonate or tritex).

But hey, save yourself the potential inconvenience of minor airbag lacerations and go for a full headbutt of the steering column, or at the very least the mother of all whiplash traumas!

In modern cars, airbags and safety belts are supposed to work together to protect you in an accident. Disabling one just makes the other a lot less effective. And you don’t have to take my word for it, there’s plenty of crash test data to to peruse on the Internet.