Well hold on a second, because while 40,000 people do die on the roads, that number used to be double what it was...then the federal government and states started passing safety laws, seatbelt laws, airbag laws, etc., and the number of deaths on the roads dropped from 80,000 in 1980 to 40,000 by 2020. So that proves government safety regulations can and do save lives. As of now, every automobile has to conform to no less than 90 different federal regulations in order to be sold.
And comparing guns to cars is always a false comparison because in order to operate a vehicle, you need to be licensed, insured, and the car needs to be registered and inspected each year. So if you said that every gun owner had to be licensed, insured, and the gun needs to be registered and inspected each year, I think that's a reasonable first step to take.