I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not. Cars absolutely do jump onto sidewalks and hit pedestrians and cyclists. A curb is nothing to stop a drunk or distracted driver in an SUV.
Early in the pandemic there was a driver who launched their vehicle into a restaurant. And when I say launch, I mean up over an approximately 2 1/2 foot high curb. All the way into the restaurant, the driver was about to put 'er in reverse and back right out again. A quick thinking patron reached into the car, turned the car off, and pulled the keys. Someone described the driver as 'unusually calm'. So yeah, striking without warning from the shadows seems fair.
Agreed. That particular 'strip mall' has a huge parking lot out front, such that one couldn't readily sort of zip off the road and into the building. Tho' within 6 mos, a year another car drove into a shop, further down the mall, in a much easier spot. I'm thinking bollards, big HONKING BOLLARDS, might just help.