general problems of the 2002 Mercedes Benz CLK320

We had a brake booster vacuum line that connects to the aluminum intake with a plastic fitting on a 2002 mercedes Clk320 (173k miles) that got brittle and broke. Thankfully no one was injured or killed. I'm an ex-mechanic and have never seen plastic fitting used for the vacuum line to the brake booster on the engine. Over time this will get brittle and break. This vacuum line does 2 things, #1 it keeps the car running with normal power, #2 allows you to have brakes that operate normally. I have done a quick search and it's not just mercedes, other manufacturers do this in some and/ or all models of their cars. This was a wake up call for me especially being a mechanic. If I saw this as a mechanic it would have been reported. This is a major catastrophe waiting to happen. People are keeping cars longer and if this plastic gets brittle and breaks while out on the highway the person could lose engine power and/ or braking power. This needs to be brought to light and I want to do this not just for me but the other millions of people that could have this happen to them.

I was driving up the mountain home ,the gas pedal gave out. I set the cruise control on and drove an hour home. When I got home I looked under the hood and came to see that the throttle cable had came detached. The car only has 59,000 miles on it. This is the first time it has happened to me. I called mercedes-benz customer care number to see if there is a safety recall on this ,they said"no" but they could arrange a tow back to las vegas at my expense and they can check it out to see if they would be able to do anything for me. I would think they would tow and fix it without any expense to me for this sounds like a huge safety issue, I did come very close to an accident the car behind me almost rear ended me and I could not get over to the right due to other vehicles to the right of me. I hope someone could bring this to the attention to the right people.