[fein]

I personally believe that the importance lies in awareness more than anything else. I generally don't run the radio in my car (even though its a piddly 1.8t GTI) because listening to the engine is important. There are all sorts of audible clues to the state of your car that get completely drowned out with the radio blaring.

I have a feeling that this is part of the source of some of the ridiculous "I've been driving my car and the brakes are magically broken" stories involving people who have run their pads and rotors down to bare metal and wonder why they didn't realize this was happening. Same goes for oil leaks, knocking, worn belts, etc.

We have a huge number of drivers in the US, and the 99% have absolutely no clue what the hell is going on with an item they use on a daily basis, hurtling down the freeway with 3000 pounds of steel at 70 mph.

[manmal]

My dad (working in automative industry) told me that tire pressure sensors were invented solely for the US market, because people in every other nation manage to check their tires every once in a while, while Americans drive until their tires "implode".

[minikites]

I think that's pretty unfair. You shouldn't have to care passionately for every object you use on a daily basis.

How often have you checked the quality of your drinking water? By your standard, you have no clue what the hell is going on with a substance you use on a daily basis and put into your body.

How much do you know about the supply chain of the food you eat? Do you ever use commercial rail or air travel?

Globalized civilization makes life too complex for anyone to know what the hell is going on with each thing they use on a daily basis.

[fein]

The difference here is that all of your examples do not leave me directly responsible for other peoples lives.

I'm talking about awareness of an object with which you can end someones life with a mistake/ poor upkeep, and be 100% directly responsible. It is, at this point, ones duty to do everything rational to prevent that possibility.

Just like your travel example: The pilot should (and does hopefully) know exactly what the state of the plane is. There is a reason that pre-flight checklist exists.