I fear you are correct Mach E. The lawyers are taking over the world. I believe a lot of what is happening is cultural, I don't have a irrational fear of piston engines like much of the public so it's hard for me to accept. Many people I know seem to live in fear of one thing or the other. Code" orange" in the "age of terror" etc etc etc, I think its scared the uneducated masses witless about their own shadows now.
Safety is always relative and not absolute.
We would never have an Apollo program now, too dangerous.