Comment by tialaramex

Sure, however that's why there's a minimum. The problem is that lots of GA aeroplanes aren't that well maintained.

People aren't on the whole suicidal, they're not going to go up in a plane they expect to kill them, but they absolutely will push their luck in privately owned planes and statistically that doesn't end well. Go see the figures for yourself, inadequate maintenance isn't first on the list for why GA crash rates are too high, but it's on there.