I got a letter recalling my cars airbags as there is a problem with them not inflating apparently. I have absolutely NOT taken it to get them replaced just incase I get lucky enough to be in a car crash =) hard to explain to my mum why I didnt want to take it in though haha. Luckily she has forgotten about it now.
If it's a TAKATA airbag recall i'd take it in. These have a malfunction where they blow shards of metal (from the casing) in your face. While people have been killed by these it's also very likely that you can survive said incident with your face blow to shreds ... not exactly how i'd like to end up.
Even if it's another brand/recall /malfuntion it's still a very unreliable way of trying to ctb. Failure to inflate the airbag or partial inflation are still no guarantees for succes but have high risk of injury without death. Also modern day car's are filled with airbags ( curtain airbags,seat airbags,dash airbag,door airbags etc etc) these are designed to work in tandem in some cases so again it can be very risky.
Also surpose you for some reason you lend the car to friends/family,or take it to a shop for maintenace , or someone is driving your car without you knowing and said person has an accident with the car and ends up dead or injured by the airbag malfunction it will be a shitstorm that ensues because you neglected to have the recall done.
Also do you know if it's the steering wheel airbag only? Surpose it's a passenger airbag it can harm others and it would be your responsibility ...
Sorry @ OP for the offtopic but it's still kinda relevant.
Edit: Piece of info on the takata airbag recall that might make you reconsider
To date, there have been 15 deaths due to this problem in the U.S. Worldwide, NHTSA reports there have been at least 23 deaths and 300 injuries.
Those numbers are enough to reconsider in my opinion.
I had a vehicle with pass. side airbag by takata. Not 1 passenger had been in it since i got a letter of the recall.