Is it that universal though? I know it was 40 years ago now, but when management overrode engineers to sign off on the disastrous launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger, I don't think they faced any legal consequences.

I've always been uncomfortable, honestly, with calling software developers "engineers". Partly that's because it's actually illegal to call a non-PEng role an "engineer" in some jurisdictions (most of Canada), but I think this comment is an excellent point of distinction to make between PEng and other roles.

Legal responsibility along with regulatory requirements. There's a reason everyone* trusts elevators and airplanes but shouldn't trust most software.