We now have the technology to have very realistic driving simulators. (I've seen what they give snow plow drivers) We should require drivers spend several days per year in a simulator to make sure that they can do things right in the weird situations. Pilots rarely fly in the worst weather (they will fly above, around or stay on the ground - though they will fly through what looks like bad but isn't - I don't know how to tell the difference), but they get lots of simulator time in the worst case situations.
I think we can demand the same from cars, or at least something better than 30,000 deaths per year.
- Licensing and renewal requirements are extremely lax
- Many states have extremely lenient DUI punishments
- Road conditions and design are often extremely lacking (e.g., stroads with high speed and high conflict points make up an outsized proportion of fatalities, there could be more emphasis on traffic calming than traffic flow and high average speed).
- Lack of safer alternatives (e.g. public transit) despite generally having the population numbers and density to support robust public transit.
- Too many safety loopholes for popular passenger trucks where the differences in regulations were intended to accommodate commercial activity with professional drivers, but the market has shifted to regular consumers driving large heavy vehicles with poor pedestrian safety like full size pickup trucks.
That isn't to say we shouldn't always try to make them safer. But if you put every passenger in a pod like the president in "Escape from New York" you'll make planes safer and still cause more death