is this the future of travel ? speed and death?

CARS? Fast , superfast ... lightning fast?

The word future brings the only word in our mind SPEED, but giving it another thought pops up safety concerns.

I am desperately looking for a breakthru in the travel industry. Its been too much of cars. Have been seeing them for centuries now. All that we improved over a centuries time is speed. Each day thousands of people die in road accidents around the world. Now that is called technology? For me the 21st century technology means safe travel - people traveling between places without fear of death.

Each day I see big great Car manufacturers come up with a new design of car, the basics remain the same 4 wheels. While they improve the safety of passenger inside, what about the person knocked down by the same car at high speeds?

Why is there no breakthru in this space?

As long as the traffic remains chaotic there are going to be accidents and deaths. Why should one's life be dependent on other person(who might be drunk/unskilled driver/ maniac).

Are we still going to keep traveling in these death machines on 4 wheels or is there another way to look at it?