I can's speak for other regions of the country, and it may have changed over time, but the driving skill requirements for a license here in Georgia are ludicrously simple. The bureaucratic nonsense is intense if you weren't born or raised here, but the actual test is practically a perfunctory formality. I am convinced that this is the root cause of comparatively poor skills and judgement that I see daily on the streets, far below what I was accustomed to in Texas and other parts of the country. For that reason I am skeptical of OP's surmise that our accidents risks are heightened by risk-taking inclinations due to culture, and point the finger at driver training and the bureaucratic focus on paperwork and forms at the expense of the nominal purpose of licensing competent drivers.