>Maybe the free-car carrot would help, though. How best to protect the public?
>

"public" is a wide-ranging term.

I grew up in Queens, NY where cars were scarce then.
I learned to drive in the service - I could drive a 2 1/2 ton 6X6 before I could drive a car.
I was taught by guys from farms in the south and mid west who drove tractors before learning to ride a bike.
I can only imagine the accidents that occur on those farms, that we never hear about.

Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan have solved the car problem pretty simply- either there's no parking at all or it costs more to park a car than it does to use Uber. Except for the very rich, cars have become obsolete there.