You'd think so, but I can see how they've backed themselves a bit into a corner. It almost doesn't matter how bad the system is at assigning blame - there would be so much complaining if it were removed, and in terms that would hurt even if untrue: "Really PD, you're pandering to dirty drivers now?!"
My view on SR has always been that it should simply measure statistical involvement in incidents (and it could certainly be improved at doing that) and that no blame should be used in it - both cars get the same SR down.
I think there's only a very few cases where blame could be assigned reliably, and the system should limit itself to those. Maybe only one case, actually... if a car is coming towards a corner so fast that there's no way it's going to make it round the corner without contact with a car in front, that's pretty clear cut and something that code could be written to detect. I'd say it's also the best case for ghosting the car, because it's going to have a race-killing effect on whoever it hits.
Anything further is extremely hard to automatically assign blame for with any reliability, so following a logical train of thought those should just be something left to a statistical SR system. It seems a folly to me to try and do more. Since the penalties are harsh, it has to be correct.
It obviously has drawbacks, but if the SR could work well enough that rubbin-is-racin is removed from SR S then I think it would be acceptable. One big benefit is that the rules are clearer!
There's no chance of them making a change that big. They could work on the SR part without making huge changes, but they don't. I can't totally blame them though, because in part it's demands from users wanting to see 'punishment' for wrong-doers that's led them to focus on immediate penalties rather than, say, better SR (which might take a few races to deal with a wrong-doer, depending on their habits).
There are plenty more clear cut cases PD could look at.
The game knows the direction you should generally be following, the racing line. Plus the whole game is about grip, keeping control of the car. A car that's sliding out of control, hitting a car that has full grip, should be suspect number one. A car spinning out in front of you and tapping you on the way out, racing incident, SR Down for the driver losing control, certainly not a penalty for the innocent bystander. A car who's vector is more than 30 degrees off the driving line should be suspect number two.
The tricky part is sharing corners, yet even there some clear cut rules are possible. Leave at least a car width room if significant overlap has been established before turn in (or anywhere really) That should not be that hard to program. In case of doubt, SR Down for both and no penalty. Clear cut case, penalty to the one not leaving room, either bumping the car on the inside not leaving enough room, or bumping the car on the outside at corner exit not leaving enough room. Or even on a straight, crowding/pushing a car off should be SR Down.
And as you said, missing braking points, ghost and reset the car to before the corner. That will quickly teach people to brake on time.
Anything else, go back to the primitive system the game started with, SR Down for both.
I'm all for a statistical approach instead of the simple capped point system that wholly relies on how much SR a race gives. For example keep a record of how many contacts per last couple hours drive time people had and translate that to your SR rating.
Also I would like to see SR Down for short cuts, spinning out, hitting walls etc. (on your own). First part of safe driving is to keep the car under control and stay on the track. If everyone in SR.S would stay on the track, the races would be a lot better already.
If I have to drive off track to "pay back" someone who hits me or prevent a penalty what is even the point of racing?? I would rather skip Sport Mode racing than put up with that crap. When I do dailys I like to spend a fair amount of time qualifying to get a decent starting spot near the front to then only have my race ruined in the first corner by someone trying to go from 10th to 2nd L1 T1, because I was cautious enough to not hit the cars in front of me. I then not only go from say 4th to 12th but I get "awarded" a 5 second penalty due to PD's ineptness or laziness. No thanks, I'll pass, I play this game to have fun and I dont find Sport Mode particularly fun at the moment which means 1 of 2 things, either they change something or I quit playing altogether.
Can't disagree with you as I stopped qualifying to avoid just that. I rather go from last to 6th in a race than from 6th to last in T1. I'm always excited when I get to start in dead last since no one can punt me in T1. (which often still happens when I start a few places up to either receive SR Down or end up in the sand/barrier) I'm not fast enough to start top 3, midfield is an awful place to start. Anything that happens in front, the ones behind you will make sure to bump you right into it.