Agreed. My theory is that a lot of our discussion is really grounded in tort law. As long as it's expensive to kill or injure Americans there is a baseline level of safety that's driven by insurance companies and financial risk.
In regions where it's less expensive to kill people we see higher accident rates despite having similar equipment and procedures. The incentive to make a shortcut here or there isn't balanced by the potential costs of those same shortcuts. Same for costs due to lapses in oversight.
So liability and law factor here. Perhaps more than technology? I think this is why there are still people in locomotives.