The difference between the accidental damage a knife can do versus what a circular saw can do is night and day. And I say this as someone who needed surgery after cutting through a tendon with a knife. :(

Old school radial saws, for example, basically don't exist anymore at the consumer level. They were simply too dangerous. Slider-type miter saws have almost completely replaced them.

Personally, I would even go so far as to suggest that weekend woodworkers should avoid even having a table saw, period.

The main problem with table saws is that they become a "do all" machine even for those kinds of actions that really shouldn't be done on it. You're already at the table saw, and it's often really convenient to just "sorta kinda" bodge something up on the table saw rather than doing the safe thing and changing the blade, putting together a real jig or using a completely different tool.

If you have a track saw or a cheap CNC instead, the danger level is way, way lower, and the result is probably a lot better.

Have you checked recent legal cases against gun manufacturers? Some are not too far removed from suing a battery manufacturer because someone took the acid from a battery and used it in an attack?

Traveled to New York City or the U.K. recently? Check your pocket for a locking blade, or an assisted opening knife before-hand.

I think the idea is that if someone advertizes their saw as safe, but it isn't, then there should be some liability. Like if you make a fake safety saw or imply its much more safe than it actually is you should get in trouble.

But surely there must be some middle ground between a company making a fake safety saw, and a good faith effort that isn't quite perfect.

People still try, and depending on the public’s mood sometimes it sticks.