I'm not convinced that the US government valuing life highly is a good thing.
If the US government values our lives highly, then it presumes that all sorts of intrusive regulations are "justified" and thus pushes those onto manufacturers. Take the seat belt reminder system you mentioned -- car manufacturers aren't just going to eat that $325 million you mentioned. Nope. They are instead going to pass it on to us in the form of higher prices. And if the government has decided that they are "necessary", then we don't even get the choice of choosing a car without them.
Far as I'm concerned? I'd rather the Federal government "valued" our lives at zero. That means they don't mandate anything. Let me make a choice. Don't make choices for me.
If they valued our lives at zero then what use are they to us?
They already value our lives at zero regardless of what contortions they use to justify regulations -- how many people die yearly in useless wars and from depression after coming home from those useless wars?
If they valued those people at $10 million each there is no way we would ever fight foreign wars. Want to find out how much they really value us? Divide yearly military spending by the yearly death toll from combat and suicide -- that's what our lives our worth to them dead.