Unfortunately there will always be a risk. Interestingly enough, in most spheres of public life, one of the main criteria used to assess whether to adopt a particular safety feature is how much money will be spent for each life likely to be saved by it.
I know this. I am not going down the route of suggesting we're all belted in or anything (as mentioned above), but merely stating that as we learn about new technology and science to improve safety, we should use it.
We should also accept some compromises. If we were talking about leaving off a safety feature because it would cost millions, fine. If we're talking about making a train potentially less safe because people want a nicer view, then I'm sorry but that doesn't sound like a valid reason.
If you travelled regularly during the peaks then you'd notice that the vast majority of people are actually working on laptops, reading, or working some other way (pen & paper etc..) and I am one of the few people actually looking out of the window (when there is actually a view to look at rather than an embankment or brick wall)
That is very true. I may look out the window a bit, but I'm just as likely to be reading or watching a film on my phone. My wife often uses the train to rest/sleep and I'd say that most commuters aren't really bothered about the view given they've seen it a million times.
That leaves the off-peak leisure travellers, who may well travel when there's more room on the train and can move to a seat with a nice view. But, even then, they may well be talking to each other, eating, playing games or so on.