Every little bit helps IMO. Rust seems like it eliminates class of bugs (and so do Haskell and OCaml), the JVM looks like it could prevent another subset of them, and I am sure there are other examples.

Not going to bash anyone for using C -- sqlite's team has their priorities and values clearly stated (performance and discipline) -- but it's probably time for all of us to admit that not all recent tech innovation is about fads. Some of it is actually genuinely useful and helps with age-old problems (though sadly, none of it addresses all of them).