If that were true we should see an increase in fatalities per mile driven as safety features increase. We haven’t[1]. They have actually plummeted as cars have gotten safer.
Proposition: IF safety features increase AND safety features cause drivers to behave more recklessly THEN there will be an increase in traffic fatalities.
This does not hold if the reductions in fatalities caused by the safety features are larger than the (alleged!) increase in fatalities caused by additional recklessness.
Sure, but the GP’s hypothesis was that “the best way to make the road super safe [is to] replace the airbags by a long pointy metal spike that goes next to the driver throat.” That doesn’t follow.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_safety_in_the_U...