Formula 1: Massa got hit in the head?

I don't follow Formula 1 a whole lot, to me it's a lot of cars spinning around in circles for a few hours and it always finishes with the same guy winning. The family TV has it blaring out all day, and I do look whenever someone crashes (Hey, it's fun!)

There's a Youtube video I saw last night of Massa, some racer in a Ferrari, being hit in the face at 170kph with a giant metal spring, and flying off the road into the wall. Luckily he hasn't died, he was unconcious with a fractured skull but hospitals are magical places nowadays and he's fine. It's just a bit crazy to watch a metal lump hit a man at high speed. It got people thinking though, and now safety is being looked at once again.

Why then, does something catastrophic have to happen just for people to look at lives? Terrorism strengthened security, but after the events of 9/11. Planes were double checked after Concorde blew up over France, and cars are checked for errors after other cars slap them in the face. Why can we not be checking these things in the first place, I'm sure double checking a plane, checking men for weapons and tightening bolts on a car isn't an unknown practice, it should have been done before.

Someone just needs to be eaten by a lion before they check they've put bars up on a zoo.