Overview
- A 25-year-old used-car dealer, Mohit Suresh Soni, died after a steering-wheel airbag unexpectedly inflated while he was inspecting a stationary vehicle and the airbag cover struck his neck causing fatal bleeding.
- Passersby found Soni injured and he was taken to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi Government Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival; police have registered an accidental death report.
- Investigators secured the scene, collected forensic evidence and are tracing the vehicle’s original owner and service history to check for prior accidents, repairs or modifications.
- The Regional Transport Office has been asked to examine the car’s mechanical and electrical systems and police plan to seek a technical report from the vehicle’s manufacturer.
- Experts note that airbags inflate at high speed and can cause grave injury if they deploy unexpectedly or if a person is very close to the steering wheel, and older used vehicles can carry latent faults from past repairs.