Certainly the bombing at the Boston Marathon was a horrific event. We humans like to focus on the spectacular. The government harnesses all of its resources in response to a sociopath getting his thrills. Meanwhile, in 2011, 32,367 people died driving their shiny metal boxes around. We have become used to the carnage on our highways. Our cars are safer, and as a percentage of population and miles driven, we continue to improve. But somehow we have become accustomed to the results of our need to drive automobiles. We live on symbols. While the Boston bombing and the Sandy Hook shooting don't equal the human cost in one day of driving in the United States, they have received far more attention and resources. The car in the United States is a symbol of prosperity and freedom, generally a favorable symbol untarnished by its cost in human lives. It would make sense to fight more vigorously against the death toll on our highways as it does to fight against terrorism. But the public doesn't have to make sense, and there is no indication that we ever will.
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