car > health?

On Friday, my car broke down on the way home from work. While I was waiting for the tow truck, I had some time to think. Why is it illegal to not have car insurance, but health insurance is a privilege?
I guess having car insurance be mandatory insures that if you get into an accident, that your insurance company will pay for the damages to the other person's car. This seems to be the only time it's ever used though. My car needed a new alternator, and by the time it was done, it cost $450, and the brakes still squeak, the check engine light is still on, and the car's still filthy. I mean you figure for what I paid (over a week's salary at my shitty job), it'd be running better than before. When you go to the doctor for a checkup, health insurance covers it. Why is it that car insurance doesn't cover maintenance? If I didn't have to have car insurance, I could have saved the money to fix the car by not paying insurance for a few months. Car insurance money is basically wasted unless you get in an accident, and when you do use it your insurance rates go up. So basically, unless your car is totalled, it's completely useless.
The insurance industry makes no sense to me. It seems like health care costs are astronomical, because insurance companies will pay them. This however leaves health care unaffordable to the common person. You basically pay into this account monthly, and whether you use it or not it's the same. If you just set aside a savings account for car insurance, you could have interest added onto your savings. Granted it would take discipline, but there's at least some benefit to it. It just makes no sense to me that people's health would come second to people's transportation. Universal health care and car savings accounts would by ideal, but will never be a reality.

OK, I swear I'll do more reviews next time; I'm sure nobody care about my insane rants.