Now granted, the ARF doesn't have to be a flying brick ****house, but, I will say this. I think for those who want to fly ARF's, that is fine, go ahead and fly them. Just take every measure you can to make sure they are well constructed and safe to fly.
Personally, this is why I do not fly ARF's. I think some of them are really nice, but I just personally don't like them, ,because of these reasons. I figure since I need to put so much work into them, I might as well just build one from a kit or from scratch. Then, I know it has been done right from the get go.
The funny thing is, someday, I may just come across an ARF I must have, and actually go buy one. OR maybe just scratch build it instead.

To each his own.

Patriot

P.S. Cars are not a very good example to compare with, as they must follow an enormous amount of federal safety guidlines prior to sale, ie. they HAVE TO BE SAFE.