I am trying to avoid thread creep honest.
I was not trying to knock PPL's at all when they pass their skills test they are all very capable and confident pilots, but a lot of guys I know sometimes go a long time between flights so being able to have someone along with them till they get back up to speed is very useful.
Indeed many of my ex students will come back and do a few auto's between LPC's just to stay currant but some times they need to fly somewhere and don't have the time to play before hand, so taking a safety pilot just makes sense.