The issue is, by these metrics we aren't that bad: https://www.usinsuranceagents.com/deadliest-cities-for-drivers/. "You might think that the deadliest U.S. cities are our country’s biggest cities — places such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia. But in reality, the deadliest cities for U.S. drivers range across a slew of mid-sized metros."

This data is a couple years old, but I doubt we went from #68 in deadliest cities to drive (factoring in thefts, chance of crash, and traffic deaths) to like #1. I see what everyone else is seeing on the roads today - but it's a known fact that driving habits changed nationwide during COVID. None of this makes it any better, but I could easily see our politicians latching on to this as a reason to do nothing. They certainly aren't going to go out of their way to see what other cities are doing.

I fully agree with your last point, a big part of this is police refusing to enforce traffic laws. Despite having the driver's equity bill as an "excuse", there is NOTHING preventing them from enforcing moving violations. We should just do what DC did and put speed/redlight cameras absolutely everywhere.