Lots of good posts and food for thought in this thread.
In my 45/4 fields in Colorado, I definitely fear for my life. There is a lot of sketchiness, both by new riders and experienced. One guy got upgraded to a 3 with a race finish in which he swept the entire field. I definitely wish that the pack skills were higher across the board (myself included).
I'm sure that there should be a multi-pronged approach to increasing pack/race safety. One initiative I'd like to see is real-time coaching. I think it'd be great to have some of the elites be in the field and offer tactical/safety/strategic advice while the race is happening. I don't know how to incent elites to do this, and also, somebody who got beaten by somebody who was being coached would have a legitimate gripe. But think of the teaching that could happen at all of the teachable moments!
Recently I got the chance to go on a long ride with a group of 65-70 year old ex-pro/1 racers. I think there was a national champ or two from way back in the group as well. Due to their age, the guys were not noticeably stronger than I was, but man they were a lot smoother and better at moving around in the pack. It was a hugely noticeable difference. They made some direct and succinct comments to me when I did something sub-optimally..it was definitely a huge learning experience. I came away very humbled: although I don't consider myself wet behind the ears any more, it was clear that I still have a huge amount to learn.
I certainly would welcome more chances to learn from more experienced racers. Currently, for me, such opportunities seem to be all too infrequent, and I'm all for improving this.