Silly question - l have a company rental car here in a North African country.

l have heard rumours from other companies that the passenger airbag has been removed/does not exist and l looked at mine. The dashboard on the passenger side looks different from the picture in the handbook and l can not see for the life of me where the airbag would deploy from.

l have asked our (overworked) HSE guys to check it out but am worried as driving is so dangerous here, an airbag is a necessity.

Could anyone please help? Many thanks in advance.
Sorry - we are still suffering from the undersea cable cut recently - internet is vey slow! Thanks a lot to everybody who replies to this, it is much appreciated. l am convinced that there is no airbag and surely there must be some 'deployment point' to look at - it can not possibly just break trough the dashboard? Anyway, thanks a great deal again.

l would say absolutely

If there does not appear to be a deploy point, and there is no inscription that says either AIRBAG or SRS, the car does not have an airbag on that side.

- Stuart

Keep your seat belt on and it will not make any difference if the airbag is there or not. Airbags are way overrated in most crashes. In very high speed cases, or in roll overs they are great but in 90% of accidents a front airbag makes no real difference. Keep your eyes on the road leave room around you to react is a much better way to avoid pain.

You probably have one of the more basic megane versions where a passenger side airbag would be an optional extra. On the passenger side if the passenger wears the seat belt correctly positioned then the airbag would not make a huge amount of difference anyway. Different on the drivers side.

Most car makers make lower spec versions for developing countries in order to get lower prices. In Latin America, for instance, passenger airbag is not standard for the Toyota Yaris (let alone ABS), hence it is one of the best selling cars in many Latin American countries.

Since rental cars companies usually buy the cheapest available version of most cars, it is possible that ur Megane does not have a passenger airbag. Anyway, it wo not make a huge difference. Buckling up & careful driving is a lot more important.

If u r still worried about safety, u can use the back seat, as long as a three point seatbelt & a good head restraint r available there.

Good luck

fg