C++ is safer than C

this is the often said sentiment, because C++ has more complex type/class system

In reality, bugs in C++ are hidden behind layers of abstraction while C bugs are in plain sight. Fixing complex C++ code is far harder and takes much more time to properly debug. The Stroutstrup copypasta is true.
Just look at any medium size C++ project and you'll see its filled with bugs and bug reports that developers can't deal with it. C projects in constrast fix everything really fast because the bugs are obvious "in-you-face" violations of logic and common sense.

C++ allows smart pointers, which is basically reference counting garbage collection. It is very slow, but indeed makes code safer. C++ also has expandable arrays and index checking, which reduces buffer overflow bugs to just logged crashes.