“Sorry your payment has been declined. Airbags and seatbelts have been reverted to the default economy mode and 911 auto-call has been disabled.

Your engine will be shut off if you fail to update your payment information.“

This sadly already exists: https://www.vice.com/en/article/93yyyd/this-motorcycle-airba...

That sounds like a wrongful death lawsuit waiting to happen.

Interestingly, Boeing had an indicator for an angle of attack sensor mismatch on the 737 Max, but it was an optional accessory.

At least that was an actual optional part, and not softlocking functionality the plane already had behind a paywall.

Why is whether or not they pre-install the optional part an important distinction?

Because if they pre-installed it, then it was included with the purchase. Once you sell something to someone, you shouldn't get to charge extra money for using it.

This reminds me of a HN thread about BMW from 4 months ago, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32068791

Shhhh, they'll see this.