The riving knife sounds good to me!

Actually, I have a question about pushing the wood through on a table saw. Do you have to stand behind it? Why can't I use some
long push blocks. So I would stand to the *side* with a push block keeping the wood flush against the fence, and another
long push block to push it through. That way, if it ever kicked back, I would be clear of the flying wood.
Am I being completely ridiculous here? Why would you not do this? I realize, in some cases, this might not be possible (e.g. large pieces of plywood). But for standard cuts, why not? Is it too awkward? I haven't tried it b/c I don't have a table saw yet.