Yeah I remember talking to my grandfather a few years ago and he made a comment about cars being so fragile now. One accident and they crumple costing thousands to fix when "back in the day" it would just be a bent bumper. I explained that in the old days the car was built sturdier and survived but the people had worse odds, now the car is sacrificed to take the brunt of the force. That finally clicked for him as he remembered quite a few friends being in life threatening crashes back then but barely any today.

I always recall the line from back to the future:

  Marty, he's in a '46 Ford, we're in a DeLorean - He'd rip through us like we were tin foil!

But a 2010+ car is not that far off a brand new car. Used doesn't just mean old junker!

In terms of safety technology, your average 2010 car is missing a bunch of things that are found on your average 2021 car. Automatic emergency braking, side airbags, hell even the backup camera!

Maybe that was better for society.

In those days, dare devils didnt last long.

Now, they can crash and kill, and drive again in a few hours.

I often wonder about things like this. It reminds of Tullock's spike:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Tullock#Tullock's_spike