IMHO there is obvious parallel here — “average person”-proficiency driving isn't that difficult at all. As well as writing some average buggy code. The truth is both of them are utterly crap at what they do and both are easily forgiven for errors.
I think you're glossing over important distinctions there. The average person can drive well enough to avoid major accidents (at least, for the overwhelming majority of the time). The average person can't code at all, at least not well enough to produce something that works.
Duolingo cannot do Mandarin, but there's very much alike and free http://chinese-skill.com/cs.html [only for android/ios].