They make the sport more dangerous not less.
People used to ask me why I wouldn't have my nieces wear elbow/knee pads and were shocked at my response that a skinned knee will not do them any major harm.
Heartless!
But while they had a number of owies they never did themselves any major damage.
Their friends on the other hand were in and out of emergency because the "protective" gear made them feel like they wouldn't get hurt so they did stunts that were down right stupid.
Yup.
Another example of the modern and/or liberal tendency to avoid surface unpleasantness while doing much greater harm out of sight is the ending of corporal punishment for minor crimes.
Used to be a 17 year old kid who committed minor criminality would be flogged, spend a few days on his belly and resolve NEVER to do that again.
Today we lock ‘em up for a week or two to be intimidated, brutalized and/or gang-raped repeatedly by older and tougher convicts, but we pretend that doesn’t happen. So we can continue patting ourselves on the back for our superior “humanity” to our ancestors.