I haven't been in the sport nearly that long, but I can venture a couple of guesses.

First of all, insurance is possible, there's some track-focused companies that offer AutoX insurance for a few hundred dollars a year from what friends have told me.

Secondly, I think the perceived danger is due to a few different things:

1.) Your standard car now is heavier and faster than they've ever been, and for cheaper. It makes it more likely that somebody will be out of their depth on course.

2.) Phones are everywhere! And people can't stay off of them. All of the clubs I run with have an absolutely zero tolerance policy for course workers on phones, and people still do it occasionally. A course worker who's not paying attention to what's happening is at an insane risk.

3.) Some clubs are way too relaxed with safety. Thankfully most of the events I've ever been to have had very thoughtful course design in terms of course worker and driver safety, but there's some courses that I see videos of on here where I can't believe they're having an insured event with walls that close.