The first cars had to have a man with a flag walk in front of them when passing through towns.

The governing system in the world at that time was not really universal democracy. It was mostly rule by the rich (who bought those cars) even in places which were ostensibly democratic.

But this is untrue. Many regs were in play due to wagons, that applied even to the rich. Do you have a source, or just playing identity politics?

Sure. In most of the Western world, Universal Suffrage came only after World War 1. Till then there were generally barriers of class, race or gender on who could vote.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_suffrage

That's not "rule by the rich". The middle class and even much of the poor still voted. You just had to own land, which isn't exactly a high barrier. The point was voting should be one vote per household, by the head of the family.

Soooo like today?

Source? Many people were killed falling from horses at that time, cars were much safer Only unpopular due to cost and unreliability, not safety.