I don't know if this has been posted in this thread because I can't be bothered to look through 11 pages, but
this video demonstrates all that "heavy, useless safety equipment" in a modern day car. The driver of the Bel Air would be dead. The driver of the Malibu would suffer minor injuries.
I'll take the extra couple hundred pounds of airbags and heavy structural reinforcements. EDIT: And the three-point safety belt, the tempered/laminated windows, the steering linkage that's designed to break on impact etc etc etc.