Summed up by the author's question "Would we really accept higher statistical safety, if that came with new risks and accident types that we could easily avoid today?"
Who would say no to this?
Who would say no to this?
Expect people to be highly resistant to that change at the beginning.
My experience with people who are afraid of planes is that they know planes are safer than cars, but none the less feel a visceral, non-rational fear of the airplane that makes flying deeply uncomfortable for them. Kind of like how you might feel if you were covered in insects, even if you knew that the insects were non-venomous, non-disease carrying, and clean.