A multi-award winning documentary maker got a shock recently when a series of deep potholes set off the airbag in his car in County Louth.

Declan Cassidy, who works as a film writer and director, was driving along a stretch of road at a speed of less than 30 miles when his car hit the potholes which in turn triggered the airbag.

“In normal circumstances, I would drive my father to 11am mass each morning along the Marsh Road, and he suffers from lung cancer and is in a very fragile state of health. He would usually occupy the front passenger seat of my car,’ Cassidy told the Drogheda Independent.

Luckily when the incident occurred, Cassidy’s ill father was not a passenger in the car, but instead his young nephew occupied the seat where the air-bag exploded.

“I saw the three potholes, and couldn’t swerve to avoid them as a car was oncoming.”

The left wheel on Cassidy’s Mercedes car hit all three potholes.

“There was an earsplitting explosion and I heard my nephew cry out in shock,”

“ The car filled with smoke and I looked to see that the passenger side airbag had deployed from the door panel, striking my nephew with a substantial force and shocking him.”

The motorist’s nephew was not injured as he was wearing a thick leather jacket.

Cassidy, who moved to Drogheda from Dublin 2009, has contacted his local authority over the issue adding that the situation could have been a lot more serious.