Still requires insurance, inspections, place to park it, maintenance, etc.

Surely you agree that there are situations in which Lyft/Uber wind up cheaper.

Insurance for teen drivers is quite high, especially for males.

Not really anymore. It used to be you could get a beater for $300-500 that would do pretty well. Now, if a car is running it's worth at least $3000. The insurance costs have skyrocketed because now people are driving rolling house payments and if your teenager crashes into them it will cost 50k+ to replace them. Parts and maintenance are through the roof. Rates at shops are up to $200-300 per hour and parts have nearly doubled.

Cars are just not sustainable anymore. If I were a kid I would prefer an E-bike or a moped/motorcycle like a Honda Supercub. Orders of magnitude cheaper than a beater right now.

Parents drop off and pick up kids everywhere, all events are carefully planned and supervised by adults.

When I was a kid...(here we go)...I was out everywhere on my own all day starting at 4-years-old - we would go out and around the close neighborhood. Year by year, the horizons keep espending and getting that first bike at 6-years-old - went everywhere. And by 8-year-old, we were for sure out every day, especially in the summer, just run out the front door, be gone all day, not tell parents what you were doing or going. If you stayed around the house, they would yell at you go get the hell out of the house.

It's not like that any more, or so I hear.

So, kids are raised in an environment where they have everything done for them, under constant supervision and catering to them, not allowing them to do anything on their own.