It all depends on the pilot. The 400 hour pilot is probably safer if they have a CFI/CFII/MEI, compared to a 1,200 hour pilot who does not have those ratings. Flight time does is not a linear relationship with accident rate. More advanced ratings/certificates are a better (overall) indicator of safety and expertise.

An example of this is that the toal number of fatal accidents (from 1983-2000) attributed to 1,000 hour Private Pilots, is the same to that attributed to 500 hour IFR-Rated Private Pilots, these two groups have a somewhat equivalent level of safety. This is the main reason the FAA eliminated the time requirement for an IFR rating. Safer pilots tend to have more advanced ratings. That statisitc is from "The Killing Zone" by Paul A. Craig.