It isn't beneath them to use dark patterns, they already do that in real life with their wages/practices.
Realistically I think it'd be pretty difficult to test this from the outside and get definitive answers. If they implemented something this scummy they'd surely implement some safeguards to make it harder to prove they're doing it, similar to the VW Diesel Emissions scandal.
There's a stipulation just above that portion of the bill where the Secretary of Transportation can determine that it is not possible to 'passively' determine if a driver is impaired and decline that rule so long as they issue a report to congress as to why.
And I trust Buttigieg to give the issue a solid looking over, but aren't breathalyzers pretty well established as a positive indicator of driver impairment?
Though requiring the driver to blow into a straw doesn't seem particularly "passive"--whatever that means.
That is less invasive than making you blow. But there will always be edge cases.
Imagine a medical condition that makes it look like you are impaired. Now, you have to go to the dealer with a doctor's note to get this system disabled. Or when you want to rent a car.
Or, if there is a case when driving impaired would be better then the alternative. You and a friend are camping in the woods out of cell range, you both have some beers then one of you trips and gets a deep cut on the leg. Now you have to wait a couple hours before he can drive you to where you can get cell signal, hope you don't bleed out.
I mentioned this elsewhere, but our fire engine is only 2000 gallons, the tender is 3000. That means it needs an entire tender's worth of water for the battery alone.
A tesla car fire on a highway or rural area will immediately require far more apparatus support than normal.
That is more than an entire fire engine's water capacity for the battery alone. This means any tesla car fires on a highway or other places away from available hydrants will need a tender or multiple engines.
Realistically I think it'd be pretty difficult to test this from the outside and get definitive answers. If they implemented something this scummy they'd surely implement some safeguards to make it harder to prove they're doing it, similar to the VW Diesel Emissions scandal.