Rex_Omar,
Go for it old son! As most people on this thread are pointing out, private flying is far safer than driving on the average British motorway, where the number of total w@nkers behind wheels never ceases to amaze me. Moreover, with proper training and with a responsible attitude (essential!) your safety will be almost entirely under your own control.
Whilst I am no great advocate of all the unnecessary complications and expense of the new JAA (as opposed to the CAA) licensing system the new requirement for a biennial flight with a CAA Examiner will, IMHO, aid light aircraft safety. Provided you approach the flight with the right attitude it can only be beneficial. I did my first one recently and even after 30 years of flying I learnt something.
You'll meet nice people and it's good fun. Only yesterday me and a mate pottered off in my trusty taildragger and went into a grass strip in Gloucestershire that we hadn't visited before. Friendly welcome, lunch and lot's of interesting old aircraft to drool over. It was a nice day out.
But if you really want to express yourself in aviation get yourself into a single-seat, high performance sailplane on a good cross-country day: orgasmic!