^If you cook all the time to the point of it becoming a trivial daily task, I think you do NOT tend to put any thought into what your hands are doing - you will be thinking 3 steps ahead - or about something unrelated.
Even with all the experience, you will have the odd accident when you don't pay much attention- and don't think about the knife at all - and that is easy to do with a task you have done so much it is mundane.
I don't cook all the time, though. Kind of not worth the effort when you live alone. Any number of other things still need cutting in the kitchen regardless though - fruits, veggies, bread, packaging... you name it.
And it's part of my "on autopilot" drill to always, always be aware of where exactly the sharp implements are and which way they're going. Even when eating actually; a legacy of once having lost the corners of two front teeth to accidentally biting down on the tip of a fork as a kid... >_<
...though come think of it the reflexive care I have for sharp implements might stem partly from the vocational training I undertook years ago; pointy tools and certain amount of rotating machinery were regularly involved so you developed a healthy respect for such things very quickly. (The mandatory accompanying first-aid course making a point of underlining the dangers of carelessness around such things with graphic ER photographs certainly also helped drive the principle home.)
especially if you are rushing or multitasking the kids or 5 other things.
Well yeah, that kind of distraction will net you accidents all right but that's getting pretty external to the actual cutlery handling now isn't it? Because that rather of applies regardless of what you're trying to do...