TikTok’s Latest Craze Turns Car Accessories into Lethal Weapons

Seemingly harmless car accessories
Can turn into lethal weapons in an accident
Potentially resulting in loss of life

Several car owners express their individuality by attaching accessories to their vehicles. However, some overlook that these seemingly harmless items can interfere with the car’s original functionality and threaten safety.

Customizing cars is the legitimate owner’s right, and nobody else has the right to interfere. However, no one wants to risk injury to themselves or their passengers due to the accessories they’ve attached to their car. Recently, it has come to light that a certain accessory on trend can cause severe injuries and even threaten lives.

Custom steering wheel badges pose a threat during airbag deployment

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) warned about the dangers of decorative steering wheel badges on the 15th. These accessories have recently become a trend on social media platforms like TikTok, leading to severe repercussions. These badges are made by attaching decorative items like faux diamonds to the empty spaces on the original emblems.

While these accessories don’t cause problems during everyday driving, the situation changes when an accident happens. As the airbag deploys, the attached accessory parts can fly off and threaten the passengers. According to the NHTSA, there was a case last November in which a driver lost sight in one eye due to the explosion of a badge. Recently, there was a horrific case in which two badge fragments were lodged in a person’s face and neck.

0.04 seconds until full deployment
What about the original emblem?

Why can such a seemingly insignificant accessory part cause such severe injuries? Firstly, airbags need to inflate instantly upon collision to absorb the impact for the passengers. Hence, their deployment speed is relatively fast. Contrary to the slow-motion scenes commonly seen in crash test footage, inflation takes only 0.04 seconds for the airbag to deploy fully.

The secret to this rapid deployment lies in the explosive material inside the airbag. In simple terms, when an accident happens and the airbag inflates, a small explosion occurs inside the steering wheel. Even the original emblems attached to the steering wheel are designed not to pose a threat to the passengers during airbag deployment after thorough research and design processes.

Even manufacturers make mistakes
What other accessories pose a risk?

Even car manufacturers sometimes encounter similar issues. In 2021, Mazda recalled about 70,000 Mazda 3 sedans and hatchbacks in Australia. The steering wheel emblem’s strength had significantly weakened over time, posing a risk of shattering into sharp fragments during airbag deployment.

For similar safety reasons, experts recommend minimizing the use of accessories inside vehicles. Dashboard covers can slow down the deployment speed of the passenger-side airbag. Seat covers can render side airbags useless, so vehicle manuals include prohibitions against using these accessories. Sharp or heavy air fresheners attached to the air vents can also become projectiles during a collision, potentially causing injury to passengers.