Since 2010 there has been a steady increase in people being killed by motorists in cars.  In that year 4,302 pedestrians were killed on American roads. Since then the total of deaths has steadily increased. In 2018 41% more pedestrians were killed than in 2008.  Drivers, on the other hand, have become safer, that is, unlikely to be hurt badly in a collision.  This fatality rate is mirrored in Europe. In fact, everywhere in the world it is more dangerous to be walking than driving.  Yes,  cars pollute, but they are also killers (actually, the fault lies with the driver, not the machine)

My comment:  Cars are  increasingly made like tanks, and drivers drive far too fast, often speeding through red lights and apparently imagining themselves in some video game.  I know because I walk a lot around the city and have to be vigilant about the traffic.

The fact is that governments everywhere cater to motorists and spurn pedestrians.  I can’t remember how often I have been crossing on a (striped) pedestrian crossing and have had to stop mid-street to let a car pass a foot or so away. Some drivers don’t seem to know what a pedestrian crossings is; drive over a crossing in England when a pedestrian is walking across it and you are banned driving. Period.  My personal view is that 16 is too young to be allowed to drive solo; but then that  “infringes upon individual liberty”, a phrase convenient to all who do whatever they want to do.