Dear Tom and Ray:

Is there any inherent danger in pipe smoking and driving a car with air bags? Could a person survive the accident yet receive serious injury from having the pipe jammed down his throat? -- Richard

Tom: Absolutely. If you happen to have the pipe in your mouth when the air bag deploys, it almost certainly would get rammed down your throat -- if you were lucky. If you were less lucky, it would go THROUGH your throat rather than down it. That's really disgusting, isn't it?

Ray: I suppose if the pipe happened to be tilted up, the airbag might simply force the lit bowl of the pipe into your forehead, burning a nice, cherry-rum flavored crater between your eyes. That would be attractive, wouldn't it?

Tom: And think about this, Richard. If you're really lucky, and the pipe happens to be in the ashtray when the airbag deploys, all you'll have to worry about is throat, lip, and lung cancer! Whoopie!

Everybody wants a new car. But from a purely financial point of view, there is no question that buying a used car is always cheaper, even in the long run. To learn more, order Tom and Ray's pamphlet How to Buy a Used Car: Things That Detroit and Tokyo Don't Want You to Know. To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

© 1996 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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