Why is centripetal acceleration directed inwards to the centre of the circle during centripetal motion? If I’m in a car while it’s cornering, I seem to be pushed outwards away from the centre, not inwards.

When I initially met this problem, I was slightly confused because of the car analogy above. So the way to think about this is that your body and the car are separate, and just as the car starts going around the corner, your body wants to move in a straight line. However, you’re stopped from going in a straight line by the car’s door or by friction with the car’s interior (depending on where you’re sitting), so even though you may feel that you’re pushed outwards, the net force is actually inwards, resulting in you doing centripetal motion.