Why can't us Minnesotan's handle driving during winter?

So if you were to go to most peoples Facebook or Twitter pages I can guarantee that the majority of most people are making clever observations about " I hate winter!" or "Stupid Snow!". To put into context if you aren't reading this as this storm has occurred but we just got several inches of snow dumped on us.
It's amusing that people gripe about the weather as much as they do in Minnesota.
It's not like it's a phenomenon that never occurs here. Hell, we can always bank on a good 6 or 7 storms from November to March that always cause headaches. We live in Minnesota therefor it will snow. Now if a hurricane were to strike us I can understand the astonishment. That would be some freaky crap.
But instead we get snow. And we know we will get snow.

So why the hell is it that the majority of most motorists don't know how to drive in this weather? Why can't we as natives comprehend what this weather is capable of doing and adjust accordingly?

Today on the way home I drove past 6 accidents. Out of these 6 accidents, 3 of them involved a minimum of 3 vehicles in each accident. That means that is was a team effort for this type of mayhem to go down.

Now I know that some might point out that maybe this was all caused by the carelessness of a single driver impacting others. But I think that in this type of situation that we as motorists need to understand that as much as we control how we drive that we cannot control the driving of others. A smart person then would adjust their driving style to be much more defensive and would not just be gauging their own adjustments but also the patterns and adjustments of those driving around us.

Here are some examples:
#1: If I were to see a car ahead of me that is ducking in and out of lanes regardless of icy road conditions and constrained visibility then it would only make sense to try to keep distance from this car. The driver has obviously disregarded common sense driving and is aggressive so it would be foolish to put myself in a situation where this person's arrogance could cause me harm.

#2: If I were to see a person driving ahead of me who is hitting their breaks every 2 seconds then it would only make sense that I either should change lanes so I'm not behind them or that I am staying multiple car lengths behind the driver as to reduce the chance of me rear-ending them. This driver is displaying a lack of confidence and if non-events are causing this person to overexert their use of their breaks then if even the smallest of events were to happen it would result in this person full slamming on their breaks thus causing us to also respond in kind. If we were to close to them from the start: Blammo.

#3: If everyone is driving 45 MPH then it's smart to maintain the pack mentality and established status quo. If a jack ass (almost always driving a truck or SUV) feels that they are Highlanders and decide to drive 70 MPH then it is smart to stay in the far right lane. Jackasses always hate the right lane and will always jam away on the left. It would be foolish to drive 45 in that left lane because if someone is driving that fast then why put oneself into a position where this jackass would try to break (and possibly skid into you) or try to change lanes quickly to get out of the way and potentially lose control or endanger other vehicles.

All 3 examples above a things that I easily understand and am aware of. And I've only had my license for a little over 8-9 years yet I have managed to figure all of this out.

So why can't anyone else? Why is it that there are as many accidents on a day like today? Why can't people grasp these concepts? And why don't more people die each year because of this?

Some might say that it's inexperienced drivers that are the cause of this. But I digress that driving past all of these accidents that the ages were all over the place. Some might say it's experienced driver overconfidence that leads to this. There might be more merit to this and I'll touch on this later. Some could say that it's natural attributes of the driver that give some better driving skills and others worse skill. This also has some merit but ties into what I'll touch on later. Some could say it's the vehicle that makes a difference in how well one drives.  The main way I counter that point is that if I have a tool that I use all the time then I should be aware of the tools strengths and flaws and adjust accordingly it's usage based on the situation.

Ultimately I feel it comes down to this crucial fact:
The majority of most people are not qualified to drive a vehicle.

Think back to when you learned how to drive. I'm sure most of you will agree that the training or teaching that you received was not practical or paled in comparison to the actual experience of driving. We seem to use the criteria that if you are smart (or lucky) enough to pass a multiple choice test that you are worthy of a drivers permit. And that if you can maneuver an obstacle course or survive a half hour ride with a riding instructor that you are qualified to legally drive a car. We base a person's entire ability to drive a car on no less then an hour with a "Licensed" instructor. And that one hour is supposed to license a person for their lifetime to drive a 1 to 2 ton machine at high speeds.  And some of these people are complete morons. Yet we entrust them to act safely on a daily basis. And when these people are being taught, nobody ever tells them how to compensate for events such as snow. And when these people get older and lose their sharpness of their faculties we never retest them to ensure they are still capable of driving.

So some of you may ask what the solution is? And the sad part is that there is no solution. Any common sense that could be applied to these problems would never work in real life or would never come to fruition because nobody would agree to go along with the changes to improve this.

If we were to have stricter testing guidelines then it would definitely ensure that more people didn't get their licenses and would force people to rely on public transportation. Auto Manufacturers would never let this happen. This would kill their industry. And they would lobby against it.

If we were to apply I.Q. and reflex response tests to the drivers test to weed out those who lack a certain degree of mental and physical capacity to drive it would be considered discrimination of some sort and somebody would cry out against this.

If we were to try to mandate retesting at older ages to ensure that they can still competently drive it would never pass any vote. Because that's all old people like to do: Vote. And I can guarantee that they would squash it. Hell, most younger people would to because they'd realize what this would mean for them years down the line.

If we were to try to change the laws on what speeds could be driven when there is inclement weather it wouldn't make a difference because most people don't observe (or know) the current speed and driving rules and people would drive the way they always do. Yes, State Troopers could dole out more tickets but once again that doesn't seem to deter most people now.

In the end we have to just to accept that even though winter happens every year and the same situations continue to occur that all we can do is control what we ourselves can control and pray that the drivers alongside us aren't the end of us.

I hate trying to base my survival on the stupidity of others but then again if you were to ask them they'd say it's my fault and not theirs.

Oh well, only another several snow storms to go until we get to spring........