Back to accountability:
I think a reason for the absolute and abject lack of accountability is the litigiousness of the society. If you bump your car into another car, you can't just offer to pay for it: they'll take you to court and have their insurance sue your insurance and then sue your insurance for letting their insurance sue your insurance, and then they'll sue you for allowing the pointless lawsuits between the insurance escalate. Sure, that's an exaggeration, but it often feels like that. The only think that keeps most people, I'm fairly sure, on the "straight and narrow," is the fear of legal ramifications. If there were no law to keep any and everyone from stealing and injuring everyone else, there would be massive theft and injury. The correct reaction to accidentally harming another human is not "I'm sorry. Are you OK," it's "NOT MY FAULT! NOT MY FAULT!" So there ya go.
Maybe it's the cynic in me, but that's how I see things.