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While in general, yes, it's worth remembering the Mirage is well under 2,000 lbs, with all the prerequisite safety crap, more space than the Metro and more power. I can imagine seeing a circa-200 pound saving in weight if you cut it down to the same size.
In the end, safety is a factor, but mostly from the manufacturing side, in terms of cost. Consumers are still a huge factor in that equation.
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My old B13 Sentra weighed (according to Wikipedia) 2,288 lbs in US-trim. A new Sentra weighs 2,800+ lbs. 650-odd pounds is a lot of extra weight, but the B13 had the rear legroom and headroom of a shoe cabinet, the new one is ginormous, with legroom rivalling even the Camry. It's ten inches longer, four inches wider and five inches taller.
And that's no accident. People keep asking for more, more, more. Post-WWII, in Europe, you could get weird cycle cars that used no gas, or tiny scooter-cars that used almost no gas and cost pennies to operate. As the economy improved, people wanted bigger... and bigger... and bigger. Now, only high gas prices, narrow roads and displacement-based and CO2-based tax regimes keep them from going full-on AMERICA!
Americans could certainly have a new four door family sedan that weighs 2,000 pounds and passes all crash requirements.
They simply won't buy one.
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