Ford Motor Company is introducing a new technology called MyKey, which has been designed to help parents encourage and assist their teens behind the wheel to drive much safer.

The new feature – which will be standard on all 2010 Ford Focus models and which will be offered on other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury vehicles in the near future, allows vehicle owners to program a special key which will limit vehicle speed, audio volume, encourage the use of seat belts, provide low-fuel warnings and will also have the ability to be programmed to sound chimes at 45, 55 and 65 miles per hour.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, teens are more likely to take risks such as speeding when they’re behind the wheel, which is a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes. The NHTSA also cite that teens are much less likely to wear seat belts than older drivers.

The MyKey system will allow parents to program any key through the vehicle message center, which in turn updates a SecuriLock anti-theft system. When the MyKey is inserted into the ignition, the system reads the transponder chip in the key and immediately identifies the MyKey code, which enables certain default driving modes, which include:

• Ford Beltminder with audio mute.  This system provides a six-second reminder chime every minute for five minutes. The Beltminder chime continues at the regular interval and the audio system is muted until the safety belt is buckled. A message center which will display “Buckle Up to Unmute Radio” will appear on the instrument panel.

• An early low-fuel warning system.

• Special features such as Park Aid and Blind Spot Information System with Cross Traffic Alert can’t be deactivated when MyKey is in the ignition.

• Other additional features which can be programmed through the set-up menu include a limited top speed of 80 mph, traction control, limited audio volume and speed alert chimes.

More than half of the 347 parents surveyed online in a recent Harris Interactive Survey conducted for Ford on August 1 through August 5, 2008, said they worry that their teens behind the wheel are driving at unsafe speeds, talking on cell phones and/or texting while driving, or are otherwise distracted during drive times. More than a third of parents also reported being concerned that their teens don’t always wear seat belts.  About 50 percent of those surveyed who said they would consider purchasing a vehicle with MyKey also said they would allow their children to use the family vehicle more often if it were equipped with the new technology.

75 percent of parents surveyed said they liked the speed-limiting feature, while 72 percent liked the seat belt reminder and 63 percent liked the audio limit feature.

As for teens, the results were a little different.  The survey, which polled 249 teen drivers online and which was also conducted by Harris Interactive between September 17 and September 22, 2008, said that while they’re largely open to MyKey if it means they’ll have more freedom to drive, 67 percent said they wouldn’t want MyKey features, however, if using MyKey would lead to greater driving privileges, only 36 percent said they would object to the new technology.  

So what do you think, parents?  How do you feel about the new Ford MyKey system? 

Eventually, I believe technology such as this will become standard in all vehicles and which quite possibly could reduce insurance premiums in the future - which is always a good thing. 

Thoughts?

Tags: Car Shopping, General //