It's pretty much proven that if you take street signs and other distractions away from drivers, they will drive more safely.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/22/in...rman.html?_r=0
Europe does this "shared space" concept all the time. It reduces traffic and makes things safer. So yeah, I think you're right about these new innovations doing addition by subtraction: they'll make individual cars safer but make drivers less involved in the process, which definitely will cause more accidents. Consider texting while driving, for example. It reduces awareness more so than driving drunk...
That said, roll cages and crumple zones are making cars safer, so I guess you have to take the good with the bad innovation wise.