from what I have seen on TV about FA training the emergency evac drill is avery noisy process with FA screaming and shouting evacuate . do this do that. Seems entirely sensible to me as confused /scared pax will from human nature respond to loud authoritative commands when they are in a state of shock.
Since people in shock or panic do not act rationally you could have a death sentence for taking bags with you and some people would still do it . So on top of mandatory changes to stupid policies and marketing to incentivise taking big bags on board lets have the usually last regulators mandate no carry-ons above a certain size and NO charging for hold baggage except traditional excess charges.
Couple that to improved safety briefings to de emphasise ditching (sorry -landing on water ) and prioritise on land evacs and not taking baggage etc mirrored in safety card or seat back slogans. ND finally crew evac training where I think they are dead right to yell at pax to 'bully' them into acting and moving to just ad Take no bags Take no bags. And I bet you would get a massive improvement -and it costs largely nothing and avoids the idea of prosecuting people who can just claim that
1)I was frightened and panicked
2 ) No one told me not to-or I didn't hear them.
PB