i don't think it's accurate or fair to say that safer cars "don't mean a d*mn thing" if you can't get the person out before they die. the safer car can mean the difference between the person in the accident being stable and safely waiting for rescue personnel to cut them out, versus being dead already when the rescue personnel arrive. in that scenario, the jaws of life "don't mean a d*mn thing" because the passengers were DOA (or, for you emergency responders, "DRT"). the safer car does a better job at injury and death *prevention* in the first place. statistically, people are safer and there are fewer fatalities because cars are safer, not because people are getting extracted from their cars any better. so even with the extraction technology remaining the same, less people are dying. it is the cars' safer designs that are to thank for that, not the jaws of life.
also, car makers may have the expertise in designing safe cars with newer technologies, but they are not necessarily experts in tool designs. they shouldn't be responsible for designing or making the tools to extract people. leave that up to the tool companies. however, i do feel it is the responsibility of the car makers to provide the technical data to the tool companies about what types of material exist on different parts of the car, and what types of forces might be required to cut different parts of the car apart. basically, they should make that data available to the tool companies so that they can develop the proper tools.
but why should the car makers have to foot the bill for such tools? the job of the car maker is to make cars, and to make them SAFE during an accident. once the accident has happened and the car has protected its occupants, its job is done.
should the developers who build the houses we live in be responsible for funding the fire departments? after all, if it weren't for our houses, we wouldn't be risking death if there's a fire. (let's add in the plumbers, the electricians, carpenters, and masons into the responsibility mix, since they all had a hand in building the house). that's ridiculous. the responsibility has to end somewhere.