The steering wheel and column aren’t necessarily better for safety, you can set up the driver’s side the same way you’d do the passenger side and this will actually give a passenger more room and reduce lower limb intrusion (and thus better survival) during a collision.

I don’t trust Tesla not to fuck all of this up of course, but the steering column used to be the deadliest part of a car until shockingly recently. If you’re old enough to vote or drink in any country, you’re older than safe steering columns being a common feature of brand-new cars.