In my experiences and from the stories I’ve heard and read, cops and courts are a lot more lenient when it comes to cars, probably partially because they all rely on them too. Some people even say things like “its better to kill the pedestrian instead of just injuring them because dead people can’t sue” and “if you want to murder someone in north america, do it with a car, you will probably walk away with relatively little consequences.”

People have a sense of security inside their murder machines that pushes them to do whatever they want.

What is it about cars that make people into psychopaths?

I addressed that part in https://lemmy.world/comment/12449859

Or does it just bring out these things in already bad people?

I bet it does that too, like giving them any deadly weapon and personal armour.