The problem with C++ is not the lack of safety features. It's the ever lasting backwards compatibility that is keeping it both alive and down at the same time.

Having to support 50 year old code, is going to limit any restriction you place. But it is usually the restrictions that make a language good.

Example: You can write perfectly good modern C++ code without any pointers. But pointers are so ingrained into the language, that it is impossible to remove them.