Change often comes slow - especially when one doesn't know what it is they want. If it's 1950 people want - there were laws back then as well. Even had paint on the roadways so people could stay in their lane.
The idiom "the straw that broke the camel's back" describes a minor or routine action that causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction due to the cumulative effect of previous small actions. It alludes to the proverb "it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back".