I’m no rustacean but it’s high time we do better than C.
So make one already. Rust isn't it.
There are plenty: D, subsets of C++, go, nim, zig.
The problem is inertia and C programmers’ stubborn insistence on ABI compatibility and “performance” (which is rarely materially at stake), not a lack of alternatives.
Stop resisting.
Why resist when we can just start ignoring? More lines of C are written per day than all lines of rust ever written.