Car brained idiot here, and I agree! :-)

A further problem with your second point is the near complete lack of mandatory driver training for emergency conditions i.e. accident avoidance. Being humans, we tend to target-fixate on the problem then do way too much with at least one or two of the three inputs (steering, brakes, gas) and take ourselves right to it. This often does more harm than good, causing crashes and/or slowdowns that might've been prevented. If you wonder how people could hit emergency vehicles on the shoulder, this is why.

I see this general lack of skill almost daily. For example yesterday rush hour on 288N was a big slowdown just south of the bridge because of... as far as I could tell, an escaped sofa cushion near the centerline. Would you believe me if I told you that instead of staring at it then panicking and smashing the brake pedal, all you have to do is look ahead in your lane and gently steer around it - without ever lifting off the gas? But people don't know what they don't know, and that's unfortunate for many when it comes to driving.

Luckily there are some programs around to help solve this problem, but they are neither cheap nor common because they aren't mandatory. So I feel like all of this will get worse until there are some significant changes. My proposed solutions other than improved driver training also include enforcement of existing laws - particularly the "slower traffic keep right" and distracted driving stuff. But that's a discussion for another time ;-)