[alphaglosined]

Memory safety is broken up into a bunch of different categories. It isn't just one feature.

Yes D uses the GC for lifetime issues currently, but it does not need it for doing bounds checking, escape analysis or preventing common issues surrounding pointers. All of which are very useful things to have with or without the GC.

Just those features alone would prevent some pretty big name issues that have cropped up in C code over the years.