[pbhjpbhj]

When you say "don't know how", what do you mean?

A driver needs to know several things about how their car works - like use of oil/coolant, what the clutch does, what brakes they have, etc. - in order to drive safely.

You seem proud of your ignorance of these things?

[ermias]

I know many good drivers what oil/coolant or clutch is and heck I even don't know my brake levels being a DIY car enthusiast. They just call for service if something shows up on the dashboard or hear something.

That does not mean they are ignorant drivers as long as they know how to drive safely and make regular services according to manufacturer's guide.

[jonathankoren]

My car doesn't have a clutch. It's has an automatic transmission. i don't know what type of oil or coolent it needs, or even where to put it. I don't care. The light comes on saying it needs routine maintence, then I drive it down to the Genius Bar and give them my credit card. Problem solved. My brakes make the car stop. That's all I need to know. I don't know how a fuel injection system works either. I don't need to know any of this stuff. I get in. I press the button. I put in in D, and I go. That's pretty much all I need to know, and that's all I care to know. I get. I benefit from any additional knowledge. Could I look up where the drain plug is and what type of oil I need? Sure, but I do t want to.

Yeah. I'm proud that I don't know anything about my car, because you know what? I don't have to. That's how technology advances. You call it ignorance. I call it abstraction.

[pbhjpbhj]

If you don't know if your brakes are ABS, or what happens when ABS kicks in, or how to drive with/without ABS then IMO you don't know one of the very elemental basics about driving safely; that's what I was (poorly) communicating.

With a new car, you can probably get away with not checking the oil or knowing how to top it up (ditto the coolant); both of which are part of the UK driving test IIRC. But having the engine seize because you didn't add oil or the car over-heated can be very dangerous. All the vehicles I've owned have had manuals that describe oil/coolant/tyre checks and test them as essentials for drivers, maybe that's a UK thing - like how toasters have a leaflet telling you not to poke metal objects in them, keyless say not to run them empty, etc..

Fuel injection I don't think pertains to safe driving?

>You call it ignorance. I call it abstraction. //

Ignorance and abstraction are different. Choosing to be ignorant of the workings of your vehicle is not an abstraction per se. Like knowing how to stack Lego isn't an abstraction of the, chemical manufacturing process or physical theories involved.