When I started driving, a significant number of vehicles on the highway did not have seat belts. The dashboards were made of steel, no padding, no airbags, no crumple zones, bias ply tires, no antilock brakes, no traction control computers, some didn't even have collapsing steering columns.
Good point, all the safety features and the insurance rates are higher. Hmmmmmmmm
Well, the safety features made the cars more expensive, so now the insurance costs more.