The minimum price of owning and operating a car is substantially cheaper in the US than in Europe so it's not as big of a hurdle here. A sub $1k car powered by $2.50/gal gas will get you to work reliably enough that you can get a ride from a friend or figure out something else out on the several days a year it may not be derivable. Vehicle repair is a service that it's common for poorer people in the US to trade as a favor among each other. A much larger fraction of low income people self-teach vehicle repair out of necessity so it's much easier for low income people to find a friend to change brakes for cost+$50 them than it is for the HN crowd.
What you're missing here is insurance; Which while state required is often ignored, putting the owner and other drivers at risk and risk of financial ruin.
Insurance prices drop with credit and higher deductibles;
So, while a car $1k car may itself be cheap to insure; if you're driving in a city with Teslas driving around, and you purchase insurance, you're likely under insured.
People just pay a $100ish 1-month premium one month every other year when they need to renew their registration. The letter of the law is irrelevant when you can't possibly afford to comply.
I didn't include it in my comment because I know that that reality is not popular around here and the specifics of how one evades paying for insurance varies from state to state.
Driving uninsured or under-insured really doesn't matter when you have no assets and are living on the edge of poverty. The idea that someone who's only reasonable way to get to work is driving would not drive just because they're not insured is laughable. You're not going to get insurance by not going to work. It's not really a big additional risk compared to all the other things in day to day life that could push you over the edge.
Regardless, insurance is still the same or cheaper in the US.
But in the context of the parent; that refusing to zone residential and commercial together makes for a requirement to drive; we shouldn't ignore that, by having uninsured drivers that won't be able to pay, the other 85% are paying for it.
tldr; Our zoning is horrible, and it's not just because owning a car is cheaper, it's more because the people with car insurance subsidize those without. Also, police and criminalizing the poor.
