I'm in my 50s (weep), have visited* 60 countries, and lived in 4 of them - and have never driven a car, much less owned one, since the day I passed my test.

People don't rent a hire car because they need to, they do it because it's their programmed default.

.* visited == spent at least one night in, not including airports

My friend showed me a map of their snowbird parents' neighbourhood in AZ and it's literally an hour walk to the nearest non-house with zero bus service.

Rest of the world can't comprehend such levels of car-brainedness.

If you visited my area you wouldn't have to drive one. You could even get a hotel with a shuttle, and if you stayed downtown you could walk a lot of places. But if you wanted to go anywhere other than walking from your hotel you'd have to hire an Uber. If you were near the part of town where I live, there are zero options other than cars.

I have traveled a lot of the world also. But I don't like cities, nor do I visit them. When I visit countries I like to visit mountains, wilderness and remote villages and camp in the wild under the stars. I have rented many 4x4s.