My first thoughts of the picture was at least my son is safe where he sits.
I think the middle row seats are safe, as a matter of fact i think kids in car seats in the middle row would have been in the safest part of the vehicle. it looks bad in the picture because the seat has been reclined to extract the driver, not trying to talk you out of a roll cage but i think you are over thinking this. Imagine the seat in a normal upright driving location and passenger location in relation to the roof and front seats.

I have also been involved in a wreck in one of my old monteros (not nearly as bad) It was T-boned at roughly 45 mph by an early 2000's Chevy Malibu. The malibu looked similar to the above montero while my montero looked like it was just a spectator in the event, as a matter of fact the police and fire dept were accusing me of concealing the identity of the real vehicle involved. I showed them the malibu corner lens imbeded into my wheel plus the paint from that car on my frame and rocker panel. This wreck bent my axle and i drove the truck home, I can post pictures of the t-boned truck later. I think Ghostwalkers truck did extremely well considering the speed, mass and height of the other vehicles involved.