To answer the original question, the car will survive without the baffle/s.
I've hit fuel starvation a fair few times (when driving like a mad man), and when ive hit starvation the fuel light is well and truly lit. The baffles stop fuel sloshing around the entire tank - it doesnt act like a local area surge section so there is little impact to the function aside from taking corners at speed where fuel will be moving significantly.