car sounds bad when i go over bumps

 hi i have been having a little trouble with my 1997 honda cr-v it runs perfectly but it has been making some ratling nose so i took it to a mechanic and he took it for a test drive with me and then when we got back he lifted it up and took a rubber hammer to see what the noise might be so he found the noise and said that these certain parts were worn down and that they needed replacing if i wanted to fix the sound but that it is safe to drive so i had him order the part but it wont get in for 2 weeks because i live in hawaii and way in the mean time i drive it home and it feels really different not realated to the ratling. so now the ride is real bouncy and when i go over bumps the car makes a clanking kind of noise. i asked a friend that knows about cars and he said that it the strut broke. i was wondering how safe it is to drive with a broken strut or what could happen to the car if i drive it thank you for any response
Its really not safe to drive with a broken anything on a car.... The strut is really the front shock, so instead of having a nice motion, you WILL FEEL every bump in the road. I had a broken strut for a while and didn't even know it (just thought it was the way the car ran) and did both highway and normal street driving, but you do lose some control, since when you turn the strut really isn't supporting anything right now.

So if you decide to drive, be cautious.... You could also give the shop owner a call and ask him how bad it was and should you be ok to drive it till the part comes in.... he was the one who looked at it so they will have a better feeling of this.