Before Christmas Mrs Statto had a very low speed prang in our Roomster (pulled away at a roundabout before the car in front had moved off ) which caused a reasonable amount of damage to the front end. All got repaired by the insurers at Nationwide, and everything seemed fine.

However, a couple of days ago the airbag warning light came on (as usual during start-up) and didn't turn off again. Is this likely to be something caused by the accident, and is it likely to be safe to drive (ie is the airbag liable to go off without warning, or is it more likely not to go off in an accident)

Also, Crawley Down have quoted me £40-80 just to diagnose the problem. Is this a realistic price, or are they ripping me off?

Go back to the repairers, normally work is guaranteed for at least a year.

and is it likely to be safe to drive (ie is the airbag liable to go off without warning, or is it more likely not to go off in an accident)

When a warning light stays on it usually means that safety system has been deactivated. So if the ABS light stayed on you would still have brake function but no ABS function. In this case it means the airbag has been deactivated and will not trigger.

Edited 16 January, 201214 yr by hertsnminds

However, a couple of days ago the airbag warning light came on (as usual during start-up) and didn't turn off again. Is this likely to be something caused by the accident, and is it likely to be safe to drive (ie is the airbag liable to go off without warning, or is it more likely not to go off in an accident)

Also, Crawley Down have quoted me £40-80 just to diagnose the problem. Is this a realistic price, or are they ripping me off?

The airbags are currently de-activated whilst the light is on.

£40 - 80 to diagnose the problem is probably about right for a garage - BUT a fellow VCDS owner who knows what they are doing can do the same thing for a fraction of that price

(don't forget that £40 - £80 is not to fix it, just to tell you what is causing it!)

The airbags are currently de-activated whilst the light is on...

This is not correct.

Even in the case where an airbag is detected as faulty, the airbag control unit will still attempt to fire that airbag's ignitor in the case of an accident.

Of course, it may not work if there really is a fault.