That's cute, and also totally irrelevant. Nobody cares about absolute numbers, the thing to care about is the rate. Pick your denominator, but I like deaths per million miles.
Polonium ingestion also kills fewer people than self driving cars, so by that token, polonium ingestion is perfectly safe.
> Meanwhile, there are ~42k traffic deaths per year that could be prevented by focusing on human-driven cars
Eh, there are over a hundred thousands deaths attributable to Musk's actions in the White House [1]. I agree with you on the short-term calculus. But trusting Tesla to help reduce those traffic deaths--and furthermore, enabling its position of power--puts those states' sovereignty in jeopardy. Swapping lives for sovereignty is an old (and trusted) trade.
Polonium ingestion also kills fewer people than self driving cars, so by that token, polonium ingestion is perfectly safe.