The total accident deaths per year in the US is only around 38,000.

Only?

One does have to consider how man person-hours are spent driving...

No, one does not have to. 38,000 deaths are an awful lot, period.

Yes, one does have to if you want to talk about possible prevention.

If you just want to mourn the dead, then 1 death is too many.

Somebody who uses the word "only" when he talks about 38,000 deaths is
an idiot, period. There's nothing to relativise here.