Andy, Java (if that is your real name...),
I'm a "small government" man, myself, but let me play a little devil's advocate, here.
Sure, the root cause is inattentive drivers. The Gov response is to go after the folks with the money--the "corporations," rather than address the issue. Well, maybe not entirely.
It's easy to enforce a safety standard on a manufacturer. It's much more dicey and expensive (and some would argue a greater threat to freedom) to enforce safety practices on individuals. Look at seatbelt and helmet laws, for example.
There was a time when cars had metal dashboards, no seatbelts, etc. I suppose you could have argued, then, that the root cause of the fatality rate on the highway was people driving too fast. In fact, that has been the argument of safetycrats (who have been proven wrong, in my estimation) who eventually got their wish with a national (federally imposed) speed limit. And who among us here really wants to see that come back?
Most engineers understand the challenge of designing for the lowest common denominator. They understand that what they create has to be idiot-proofed as much as possible, and that failures, whether operator-generated or otherwise, have to occur in a way that offers the least risk to operators and bystanders. To be successful, the design has to account for the behavioral patterns of the population of intended users. With so much of a car's operation these days being low to no maintenance, many people assume that their tires warrant the same inattention. Failure to maintain proper pressure should result (within reason) in poor gas mileage and shortened tire life--not a blowout or tread separation (which, if you're not attentive to tire pressure, do you really know how to handle?)
I agree that a safer standard is warranted. If Hoosier pulls out of the DOT race rubber market, it will be because they don't want to spend the money to get where Kumho is right now. They will probably stay in business, though, servicing those race classes that don't require DOT spec tires. Perhaps this product line has been a cash cow for them, and that status is threatened.
BTW, I just want to make clear that most of the words in my last post are not mine, but those of a Kumho rep commenting on this issue. I'm not saying I agree or endorse everything he says--I was just putting the info up here to generate further thought and discussion.
I agree with you guys about what the root cause really is. I also agree that better standards should be applied to license holders. But I think what you're going to see more of is "improved standards," followed by more automated tire pressure maintenance. First, sensors to tell the driver when a tire is low. Then, automatic pressure regulation, with an idiot light to tell the driver when the auto system is experiencing a failure. These things are already on some high-end cars, and I think you'll see these trickle down, just like ABS did.
