Glad to hear you are ok. The largest car I ever owned was a 2006 Lincoln Town Car, which was a great car to drive if you aren't in a hurry. Built like a tank, with old-school 'body bolted onto frame rails' construction. My mom had a Miata for a while and I always felt safer in that. Driving one does require that you pay constant attention to your surroundings (performance is no good if you don't use it) but its ability to manoeuvre was just amazing.

Your Golf probably had decent performance too, but we are discussing your statement about the relative merits of a Miata versus a SUV and there's no comparison, safety-wise. The stats are very clear.