How crucial are the brake pad retainer clips?

[dobos100]

...I just replaced my front pads and on the way home all of a sudden I hear a noise as if i drove thru 20 feet of chainlink fence, and a few seconds later again, turns out that my brake pad reatiner-clips popped out and got ground up and spat out, underneath the car.....so.....the question is how important are those little bastards?? I would assume its still safe to drive without them right?

[Mike@PureMS]

It's safe to drive without them, however you'll experience very uneven pad wear. I recommend you replace them asap.

[dobos100]

Thank You!!