To see a light and to take appropriate action when you see a light are 2 different things.

Where a single light can mean everything from you're losing 10% fuel efficiency to your car will seize and light on fire if you keep driving for 10 minutes.

Relevant fact: there were on average 152,000 car fires each year in the U.S.A and most crashes do not result in fire.

Take a look at the top posts on /r/justrolledintotheshop and you will see plenty of examples of people who drive with their fingers in their ears and the dashboard lit up like a christmas tree. And those are only the cars that people begrugingly have brought in, probably 10 more like that on the road for every one in the shop.

These people know something is wrong with their car and probably couldn’t afford to get it fixed. No one chooses to not get their car fixed if they have money in the bank to take it to the car dealership.

> These people know something is wrong with their car and probably couldn’t afford to get it fixed.

But, without cursory knowledge of car issues, that decision is unwise, negligent at worst. A car breaking down in the center of traffic has negative externalities. A car fire (152k/year) has negative externalities. A tire or brake failure resulting in an accident has negative externalities.

Even the seemingly innocuous check engine light being on from emissions equipment has negative externalities.

I’m not saying it is a wise decision. No one would say not paying your rent and being evicted is wise either. Poverty forces you to make bad choices sometimes.

So this is where the analogy works; It's wise that the average person be able to perform moderate computer skills; similar to it's wise for anybody with a car to be able to accurately assess risk by knowing enough about cars.