You're right. Of course majority of driving is uneventful and the activity is not a bloodbath. Your average driver isn't a speed maniac or someone who loses control of the vehicle three times a day (though an average driver I meet has a bit, let's say, relaxed approach wrt. speed limits and safe driving distance).
But because driving is something that a great many people have to do, often many times a day, it still sums up to a significant death toll worldwide. It's a statistical thing, not emotional one (no one is honestly impressed by traffic accident these days; bomb on a plane on the other hand...). By introducing self-driving cars we can significantly reduce if not outright eliminate those millions of unneccessary deaths while also improving energy usage and efficiency of transportation as a whole. In other words, no traffic jams, you get quicker everywhere and the world as a whole uses less energy to move people around.
But because driving is something that a great many people have to do, often many times a day, it still sums up to a significant death toll worldwide. It's a statistical thing, not emotional one (no one is honestly impressed by traffic accident these days; bomb on a plane on the other hand...). By introducing self-driving cars we can significantly reduce if not outright eliminate those millions of unneccessary deaths while also improving energy usage and efficiency of transportation as a whole. In other words, no traffic jams, you get quicker everywhere and the world as a whole uses less energy to move people around.