Some because they are blind, have seizure disorders, etc., some because they have proven themselves to be irresponsible drivers (drunk driving, reckless driving, etc.), some for other legal reasons (prison, serving time at home with an ankle bracelet...), but mostly because they simply can't afford an automobile.
What makes YOU so special?
An automobile society is a fascist society. It can keep people "in their place" simply by denying them the use of automobiles, by keeping the "poverty line" below what is needed to own and maintain a car, and by discouraging public transportation projects. It can keep track of everyone who owns a car, where they live, where they go, and these capabilities are growing ever more intrusive with modern information technology and things like license plate readers, "Fast Passes," and cell phone technology tightly woven into automobile electronics. (I find the remote shutdown capacity most amusing... miss a payment and your car is dead in it's parking spot and reporting its exact location to the repo man. Law enforcement can also locate and shut down modern automobiles remotely.)
Anyways, nobody is talking about taking away YOUR automobile. What we need to do as a society is to drastically reduce the overall number of automobiles. We can do this by making our cities attractive places where people can walk or use public transportation to get to work, or go shopping, or seek recreation. Maybe we can even tear down a freeway or two.
We won't do that, however, because here in the U.S.A. the Automobile is God, and for that our descendants will suffer greatly.
I hate cars, but like NNadir, I'm a hypocrite who owns one. In this society, unless you live in certain urban areas with excellent public transportation, an adult without a car isn't considered a fully functional human being. So yes, I fully understand your position.
My own car is a big "fuck you" to car culture. It's an $800 piece of shit. It was built in the mid eighties. I only wash the windows. I fill the gas tank a couple times every year, whether it needs gas or not. It's got fuel injection, four cylinders, and the emission controls still work well, so it's not any worse than other modern vehicles in terms of CO2 and other dangerous emissions. (And it's nothing like the monster V8 finned Cadillac my grandma drove when I was a kid. That got 10mpg and the only emission control system was a crankcase ventilation tube.)
By some planning and greater good fortune my wife and I have been able to avoid the car commuter lifestyle for several decades. When we met we were Los Angeles commuters on crowded, stop-and-go, 15 miles per hour freeways. I never want to do that again. Nobody should be compelled to do that.
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