The automobile has been an equal opportunity death trap. I'm pretty sure that the standards are based on the incentive to keep the people alive. I don't think that they ever were not intended that way but it also might be a matter of us using materials to equalize the lowest common denominator.
Still very interesting.
I would what things would be like if we had hard money?
Technically, that Bel Air was designed and built by an organization that was backed, ultimately, by a gold standard currency. (Most recently tied to gold from 1934-1971)
Anything that humans design and build will undergo an iterative progression through design responding to incentives.
Some of those incentives are- don't kill customers, users, and occupants.
Others are units produced and sold, profit margin, and market control.
