Many people hold the view that insurance, lawyers, etc are all just a big protection racket - pay us money so we don't hassle you (and we probably will anyway).

If you look at it from the outside, there's a fair amount of validity to that view. Dangerous activity should be punished by the criminal justice system, not by lawsuits, while the cost of accidents should be covered by public insurance that everyone pays into, not private for only those whose employers offer it.

The problem is that those who defy the racket, and get caught by it, get really really hurt.