[ghaff]

>the only person (in most states) who can legally call himself an Engineer

Someone must have a PE to sign off on certain things when dealing with regulators and so forth. Which makes getting a PE in certain situations important. But not having a PE is hardly equivalent to calling yourself a lawyer if you haven't passed the bar in a state.

[fasquoika]

Whether or not it's equivalent is pretty irrelevant to the law