Interestingly this is in stark contrast to the recent article about learning C++ in 2018 and being perfectly happy with it. I think part of this is because C++ is such a vast language with a huge and diverse ecosystem that it's kind of like saying you should stay out of Africa because it's so dangerous, when it's such a huge place and many parts of it are relative safe. Maybe the two authors experienced different "parts" of C++ and are referring to that subsection only.
You can learn and use C++ in 2018 and be perfectly happy with it.
This article is arguing that for safety/security, you shouldn't use it. For the majority of projects that are more complex than Hello World, you'll be venturing out of "relatively safe".
The problem with C++, is that unless you have the source code from everything available and the team agrees on making proper use of static analysers, there isn't any guarantee that a rogue team member, or a binary dependency isn't making use of unsafe bad practices.
Whereas in some systems languages with modules, if you make use of unsafe code blocks or pseudo-module, the module gets tainted and you can even block its use.
