I think cars becoming safer has ironically driven a lot of this behaviour. People feel safe themselves and don't take care. It's called risk compensation.
I agree modern cars are much better engineered to increase passenger survivablity.
Can’t remember the program (it was a very long time ago) but the crash investigation expert said a 6 inch spike on the driver steering wheel would improve driver’s perception of risk as it would be a very pointed reminder of risk.
I don't think that's what's motivating people. Nobody was dying in droves before. The expected outcome of the mean and median example of distracted driving been purely financial ever since cars grew seatbelts and accidents are more expensive than ever. There's probably some other explanation, though I have no clue what.
Can’t remember the program (it was a very long time ago) but the crash investigation expert said a 6 inch spike on the driver steering wheel would improve driver’s perception of risk as it would be a very pointed reminder of risk.