Incidentally, some of the simplest ideas cause the most trouble. All forces come in equal and opposite pairs, for example. Once you get the hang of it, this is a really simple concept. But you might have to work hard at ridding yourself of some wrong-headed notions about force. It is something like being in the habit of misusing lie and lay but with more serious consequences.
Bad habits are hard to break, so work on it.
Think about the force on the insect due to the car, and the force on the car due to the insect. So you have reason to believe that in the absence of a force, an object will slow down and come to a stop. This is wrong. With zero force, the thing would maintain constant velocity in a straight line, like a space probe in deep space, far from any star or galaxy. Gravity sucks, but this is a good thing.