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!