Because the individual makes the wrong call for the whole.
Saying the individual makes the wrong call for the whole is remarkably stupid. The West is built on correct decisions for the whole by individuals.
Mindless politics.
Social distancing is therefore vital when patients keep coming out of nowhere. If there's a group of people they could easily spread the virus before they even know. If people don't listen, it may have to be enforced for public safety. It's the approach China, Singapore, and South Korea have done and succeeded in various levels.
But it's not just about you. It's about the elderly, the sick, the weak around you. Even if you end up fine after getting the disease, you're going to transmit it to other people, directly or indirectly, who may end up dying because of you. That's what R0 is about.
So yeah, a lock down will suck for you, but I hope it makes you feel better to know that it will help save someone else's life.
There are about 35k car crash deaths in the US each year [0].
I’ve seen estimates for total infection rate all over the map. Conservatively (?) if 30% of the US population is eventually infected and the fatality rate is 1%, that’s 1 million people, and basically two orders of magnitude larger for a comparable (?) time period. If we don’t do more than we currently are to limit transmission, these figures don’t seem that implausible.
Auto deaths are still a huge problem, but we can take more targeted action like improving transit coverage.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_...
Italy has 3,333 deaths from car accidents per year. Currently 0.04% of Italy has confirmed covid-19. They have 1809 deaths from it.
Italy has closed all stores other than grocery and drug stores. All non-essential travel is banned. There's a short list of valid essentials, like taking care of aging parents; there are roadblocks, they'll make you fill out a form stating your purpose, it's a crime to lie about it, and they do sometimes check.
In China, every place you go you get your temperature taken. Go in a building, get on a bus, they take your temperature. Show a fever, they take you to a dedicated fever center, where they check you for flu and bacterial infection. Come up clear on those, you're waiting four hours for a covid-19 test. Come up positive, you're there for the duration. You don't go home to your family because they've found 80% of transmissions are in family clusters.