I disagree. Detroit steel was meant to stay intact in a crash, even if the driver was turned into plasma. Today's safety enhancements are saving lives. Airbags, ABS, and crumple zones (reducing crash energy) work. I am an airbag survivor.I was bruised and shaken. Both the police officers on scene and colleagues from work (physicists) upon examination of my car said I was lucky to be alive.
True — automatic air bags were probably the biggest single boon to crash safety, though their mandatory inclusion has made steering wheels plug-ugly ever since.
Still, not all crashes are frontal and mass matters. Once I skidded in the rain driving a pickup truck and smacked into the back of a Quest that was carrying two teenage girls. Neither one was hurt at all, not even whiplash. The only “crumple zone” was the back tail gate door which cost my insurance company $1500 to fix. (The truck fared worse, believe it or not.) Now if that had been an Elantra, whoo boy.