The cars themselves are but a symptom of the issue. The real predators are those who push street design that prioritizes vehicle throughput over safety. The real predators are those who push vehicle designs more deadly for pedestrians but “safer” for passengers who feel like they’re in a tank. The real predators are those who believe there is a non-zero number of avoidable innocent deaths that’s an acceptable trade-off for the bottom line.
Kevin McMansion in his suburban house with a lifted F-250 is victim to a parasitic infection. It’s the car lobby primarily responsible for those memetic brainworms, but their playbook is endemic to our way of life. When Kevin kills a toddler backing out of his driveway because the backup camera is 3ft off the ground, that child, Kevin, and their community pay the price (death, trauma, pain, guilt), but the industry has successfully turned this scenario into nothing more than one of many externalized costs of doing business.
Is it legal for bike riders to use the sidewalk in your town?