S2rjn, When the light illuminates it has to be triggered and a code stored in the module, Indeed there are a number of possibilities that trigger the airbag light, common a few years ago was the seat belt buckle and there was a modification to correct.
Taking of the door cards with ignition on will trigger it too.
Usually the air bag being triggered by a belt buckle becomes obvious because it is usually (but not everytime) triggered just as you buckle up (or unbuckle) It appears to be an earthing fault - You described it coming on whilst driving - so i would be surprised if the buckle was the problem - unless you were fiddling with the buckle at the time (thinking it was a sheep - sorry - just checking the toys and the pram)
Therefore i would suspect the only part that had movement at the time of the trigger was the steering wheel.
Behind the steering wheel is the spring unit - no idea why they call it that as it doesnt have a spring in it at all, Inside is a computer style type ribbon, it is wound round a few times and as you turn the wheel this ribbon moves.
The movement over a number of years does cause the ribbon to break inside but its never a clean break in that once broken it remains broken - as you continue to drive the ribbon cables end up connecting again so when a test is done it fails to re illuminate the light, however to trigger it must have thrown the code, It is possible the garage simply reset the light without reading the code and that is why we dont know precisely what to look for.
When the ribbon gets worse you will find the horn fails to work - but only when the ignition is on - when ignition is off it will work - no idea why this happens either.
You will find the air bag unit to be about £350 but you may find one on E-bay a lot cheaper.
If you get yourself a Durametric kit for about £200 it will read all codes in all areas of the car and it will reset your airbag light too.
Good luck with it
Glyn