Short bars... yes or no

Lolz at Hat He Chewed, spot the person who hasn't ridden more than four miles in one go let alone raced

That is a good point. I would imagine quite a few people don't ride more than a few miles at a time. For those people, bike fit, bar width etc,. it largely irrelevant and nothing wrong with that.
It is only if/when they ride for hours at a time non-stop that they will need to consider comfort.