I think it's still close to the most likely cause of violent death for an American; Neck and neck with gun deaths, if you count the self-inflicted.

I mean yeah, compared to medieval statistics, it's great, but in comparison to the other non-medical ways to die you face as a 21st century American? automotive fatalities are quite high, and the problem deserves a lot of focus.

Best way to reduce traffic deaths is to reduce traffic. That requires changing of zoning so people can live near where they work.

You could also make it harder to be qualified to drive.

I view autonomous cars as the 'lazy technocratic' solution to a problem caused by total government mismanagement.

You say lazy, I say possible. potato, potato.

(I mean, I agree that reducing miles driven is also a good goal. I'm just saying, making safer cars is a lot easier than talking people into allowing higher density construction and cities built around transit and walking rather than around cars)

Exactly, these statistics don't represent the 'average' driver, let alone a 'good' driver.