A German driver, Uwe Schrager, deliberately crashed his Ford Mondeo into a tree to test the airbags of his car. "I knew that the car was fitted with airbags but I didn't trust that they would work, so I wanted to test them. I felt it was better to have a low speed crash that I was likely to survive if they didn't work rather than a high speed crash when it will be too late if they didn't work," said the unemployed Schrager when questioned by the police.

When the police arrived, they found the driver putting the car's bumper and other parts into the boot so that he could drive the wrecked vehicle back home and get it repaired. The driver was tested negative for drugs or alcohol.

Police said that the man had expected to be able to put back the airbags after the test, but had then discovered that this wasn't possible. The 45-year old Schrager apparently expected the insurance company to put the car back together again but was informed that the incident is not claimable as he had admitted to deliberate crashing.

For his actions, Schrager