“The penalty for violating Shabbos is death.”
Not anymore. Nobody is talking about driving to shul two thousand years ago, or two thousand years from now. The topic at hand is driving to shul in today’s times, when we do not have Mashiach or a Beit Hamikdash or a Sanhedrin, and when there is no death penalty instituted for violating Shabbos. I’m not saying that it’s a less serious transgression now- of course it’s not! But please don’t use anachronisms to make your point.