A safety feature can change behavior by changing what people believe they can risk.

Safety features change what people are willing to risk. Better brakes produce faster driving, better equipment produces bolder attempts, and some of the protection is spent immediately on behaviour rather than banked as safety. The margin gets used because it exists.

Watch for where you are doing this. A backup, a safety net, an insurance policy can quietly license choices you would not otherwise make, and that is sometimes exactly what it is for. The question is whether you are spending the margin deliberately or by drift. Knowing which one it is turns a hidden mechanism into an actual decision.