This article feels like it ends without actually getting into the depths of the problem. Everything it says is reasonable but it leaves out so much nuance and context. It's like they're bending over backwards to say "whoops, look at this authoritarian hole we've dug for ourselves, looks like it was all just an unintentional consequence of cars." The fact of the matter is that every step of the way, police, prosecutors, judges and citizens looking to enforce law and order were complicit in the described erosion of civil rights while out in public. It's not like this happened accidentally. Sure, the societal changes that came about as a result of cheap personal transportation aggravated the problem but every inch we slid down the slippery slope was the result of many people pushing us in that direction.