Not sure what you mean by "Car crashes are much more debilitating than bicycle crashes."
If a cyclist gets hit by a car at any significant speed, he's likely seriously injured or dead, while the car driver is likely unscathed, at least physically.
If two cars collide, unless they are traveling at quite high speeds or are particularly unlucky, everyone will probably walk away, as they are surrounded by a steel structure that has been specifically engineered to protect vehicle occupants in the most common crash scenarios, in addition to the protection provided by safety belts and airbags. The cyclist has none of this.
If two bicycles collide, well it depends but scrapes and possibly broken bones are likely, along with possible concussion or worse head injury.
We know that bicycle usage in places like the Netherlands doesn't result in frequent serious accidents like you describe. The safety culture is totally different, and injuries like that are low despite a much more casual approach to helmets. There are people on cargo bikes transporting goods and going shopping with their children.
This is an infrastructure problem, not a bicycle problem. The infrastructure problem exists because places like the USA prioritize cars.
Even the two bicycle collision you describe is quite rare outside of competitive sports. People casually bicycling to work aren't going at such speeds, don't go closely in opposite directions, and really have no reason to do so.
Bicycling is very safe when you remove car interaction from the equation.
If a cyclist gets hit by a car at any significant speed, he's likely seriously injured or dead, while the car driver is likely unscathed, at least physically.
If two cars collide, unless they are traveling at quite high speeds or are particularly unlucky, everyone will probably walk away, as they are surrounded by a steel structure that has been specifically engineered to protect vehicle occupants in the most common crash scenarios, in addition to the protection provided by safety belts and airbags. The cyclist has none of this.
If two bicycles collide, well it depends but scrapes and possibly broken bones are likely, along with possible concussion or worse head injury.