It's kind of crazy to me that we focus on things like this, which would only work for the most modern of new cars, but don't focus on other, simple things.

In many European countries all cars need to undergo a yearly road worthiness check. So not just the emissions checks, but also the lights, tires, brakes, seatbelts, shocks, steering, and other basic things. It seems like such a system (even every 2 or 5 years) would result in major reductions in accidents and injuries and be applicable across all cars.