To be fair, most people do not work on applications that need that level of performance.
Most of the time, and to your point, that level of performance isn't necessary so using a language that is less likely to let you take your foot off is generally the best & most correct choice. I only resort back to C/C++ when I need the pure raw performance like this parser would, or when doing embedded work. Otherwise I reach for other tools in the tool-bag that are less likely to let me maim myself unintentionally.
Most of the time, and to your point, that level of performance isn't necessary so using a language that is less likely to let you take your foot off is generally the best & most correct choice. I only resort back to C/C++ when I need the pure raw performance like this parser would, or when doing embedded work. Otherwise I reach for other tools in the tool-bag that are less likely to let me maim myself unintentionally.