I totally agree that race driving ability has nothing to do with road safety. I vividly recall that the great British ace Stirling Moss was an atrocious driver on the public roads when he was at the peak of his career on the track - he failed to stop after a collision on at least one occasion, and finally had his licence revoked, whereupon he continued to drive in Britain on his US license, using a legal loophole. In the same era, Mike Hawthorn was killed when he crashed his Jaguar on the Guildford bypass shortly after becoming the F1 world champion, probably through overconfidence. I myself feel that I was at my most lethal to other drivers in my early twenties, when I was at the peak of my skills behind the wheel (such as they were). In those days I used to pray for wet weather so that I could go as sideways as possible as often as possible and thought nothing of spinning out on occasion. Luckily I didn't kill anyone.
However, I am against many forms of safety legislation such as seat belts and crash helmets, and in many cases blanket speed limits, regardless of whether they save lives, since I am by nature a libertarian and against "nanny government". In the UK I drove far faster than in the States, and much closer to the limit of adhesion, but I got only one speeding ticket in fifteen years of driving. In the US, I long ago lost track of the number of tickets I have received, although in recent years it seems to me that US limits are far less rigidly enforced, and are now usually exceeded on the interstates by 10 to 15 mph by almost everybody. I believe that in the US, speeding tickets are partially a revenue creator and do not reflect much on the safety behavior of the individual driver, which I think the following incident demonstrates. Through inattentiveness in an SUV, I once almost missed my exit on a divided state highway, braked heavily while turning, and lost it, spinning through a 180. It didn't bother me particularly, but it did bother the cop in an unmarked car who was waiting to pull out of the exit. And he gave me .... a warning! I believe it was the only dangerous thing I have done on US roads to date, touch wood. Perhaps ABS and/or attitude control would have helped, but then the vehicle would probably not have stopped as quickly, and since I came to rest about ten feet from a stationary truck, that might have been a problem.
I agree that US driving habits are terrible compared with those in Europe, particularly regarding lane discipline. When I first came to the States, I had to take a written driving test, and studied the relevant booklet. I remember being mystified by the admonition to "stay in your lane", and "do not change lanes". Of course, coming from Britain, I was used to changing lanes all the time, and spent about half my time overtaking other vehicles on two lane roads. But of course, I had good lane discipline like everyone else over there and never overtook on the "wrong" side. I think this "stay in your lane" mentality is what has led to the poor lane discipline in the US.
I don't much care for any kind of automated driving safety aids - even cruise control. But my greatest fear is, and always has been, falling asleep at the wheel. There is reportedly technology being developed which will do something about this, which I would support.