"De-evolve"? LOL
I ride bicycles and motorcycles. I drive little cars and on occasion a full-size pickup. I enjoy classic cars and drive a '59, a '60, a '66, a '71... and so on, and don't feel my safety is compromised in any of 'em.
No disc brakes, no seat belts, no head rests, no padded dash, no ABS, no air bags, no side door beams, no 5 mph bumpers... no sweat! Anyone that swings a leg over a two-wheeler really should have no fear of any four-wheeler, no matter where it's imported from. Does anyone here break out in a cold sweat while in a Metro? Could Metros even be marketed new anymore due to new regs? If I should freak out about anything it should be slipping and falling in the shower or on my icy walk in the winter. Isn't that where, statistically, the most accidents happen?
I hardly think the Europeans or whoever are bent on killing their own via lack of adequate safety regulations. However I do believe the U.S. is a nation run by lawyers. Govt agencies, special interest groups, and litigation or the threat of it are driving what I believe to be excessive safety requirements. Cars are so safe now that motorists seem to think they no longer have any responsibility for their safety or that of others- they put it all on the car. Witness the battering ram mentality of virtually everyone in the U.S.- until gas hit $4 anyway.
As far as insurance costs go, we can blame that on insurance companies (how profitable are they anyway?) and style. Yes, style dictates a lot in how vehicles are constructed and much of the new stuff has much expensive componentry sitting out there where it's vulnerable. Lookit summa the "old school" stuff from the '80's: a good example would be an old Escort. I read- I believe consumer reports?- that the Escort could take a 5 mph hit and incur $0 damage, whereas much of the new stuff sustains hundreds (thousands?) of dollars of damage from the same hit. Thank fancy lighting and integrated bumpers. Basically, low-level impact resistance is not now a priority in design criteria.
In addition to having access to all sorts of cool stuff that we've been denied all these years, I'm thinking of all the wasted duplication of engineering effort expended to try to make a platform that satisfies disparate regulations. Really, what is being gained? Are there any legit regional differences in safety requirements?
I do agree that GM has unraveled itself though.