In the USA, public service announcements to encourage safe driving tend to emphasize the risk of getting a ticket. Two slogans in recent years include: “Click it or ticket” and “Drive sober or get pulled over.”
Personally, I drive safely to avoid accidents; not to avoid tickets. Perhaps most Americans are more afraid of a ticket than they are of a serious accident. Why? Perhaps getting a traffic ticket is easier for most people to imagine than getting into a horrific accident. If you can’t vividly imagine it, it just doesn’t feel like a real threat.
I think you’re right. It’s much easier to imagine getting a ticket than being involved in a serious, potentially life-changing, accident.