Reasons why I prefer to fly the 5 year old C172 at my flying school, rather than the 20 year old 172 and 152s:
26g seats;
inertia reel shoulder harnesses for all seats;
a carburetor ice-free, fuel-injected engine.
Secondary safety has been a feature of cars for so long that I was shocked to realise that neither it, nor ergonomics, featured in the C150 I first flew in. I wouldn't choose to drive a car without a collapsible steering column, so why take any more risks than I have to in an aeroplane?
Interestingly, the "modern" aircraft manufacturers - Cirrus, Columbia and Diamond - all have information about safety on their websites, unlike Cessna.