[I would have much to say about cars, but not necessarily at this moment in time. So here a few loose thoughts, and I shall come back here, with time.]

Cars are the tobacco of the 21th century

I think cars are generally not very good to a well-functioning society for many, many reasons. Jaime Lerner once said that the car would be the cigarette of the future; if one is to search for that quote online, there are several other examples of this comparison. Let's think about it: in how many different ways does it ring true?

André Gorz and the automobile

It was back in 1968 that we went, for the first time, to a big modern hotel, in Pugnochiuso. We ended up acquiring, after ten years had passed, an old Austin. It did not refrain us, however, still to consider private motorization as a despicable political choice, that pits people against one another, in the illusory offer of a means to escape a common fate.

my translation of an excerpt from (the Portuguese translation of)
Carta a D., by André Gorz (full quote here)

a still from Rien à Foutre

cars have an influence in youth socialization

boyd links the impetus for younger people to socialize online with restrictions like anti-loitering laws and car-centric neighborhoods that reduce the opportunities for physical socialization in places like malls and public parks.

(a tangent by the author of Because Internet; full quote here)