When people did stuff years ago, generally speaking, cars were so underpowered by today's standards that the levels of peril were lower. These days you can buy ordinary cars that do amazing things. My 2-litre VW DIESEL does over 200kph. My first Holden was pushing it to do 130kph. Pretty much the same right across the range. A 20yo's skills at 130kph are pretty dodgy, at 200kph they are completely, criminally absent.
Also worth remembering is the fact that right now there are X kilometres of road shared by millions of cars. Back in the day there were the same X kilometres of road but a very small fraction of today's car numbers. What was then a "quiet back road" where shenanigans didn't affect many people is, generally speaking, a 'busy back road" these days.
I've lived in the same quiet Far North Coast village for 40 years, with a winding narrow road defined by horses and carts in the 1880s. About 10 years ago it was discovered as a "rat run" by commuters between two regional centres who found the highway too roundabout. These dickheads (of both sexes) still drive like they're on the highway, hundreds of them, each morning and evening. What I am saying is that basic road-use conditions have changed drastically since belting down a "deserted" road was just a bit scoundrelly. These day's it's criminal.