Sorry, I didn’t even know that was possible! If my parents had done that to me I would have been furious. I take that back. I’d still be furious.
There are things you just don’t do. You don’t read other people’s email. You don’t record your grown brother’s phone conversations, and you don’t video tape your teen while they’re driving.
My husband and I had the privilege of attending Ford Motor Company’s 2010 Model Year Drive event where we met several of the engineers who have worked on safety features for the 2010 product line. I was impressed with all kinds of features, but when asked if I’d seen the My Key yet I had to admit, I’d never even heard of it. The engineer quickly got us into a My Key equipped car and showed us how it works. He then shared some of their reasoning behind it, including survey results from their studies.
My Key is NOT a tracking device. It does not alert parents to bad behavior or record when your teen doesn’t wear his seat belt. My Key simply allows a parent to program one of the car keys to tell the car not to allow media/radio features unless the front seat belts are buckled. The parent can also set a top speed of 80mph, turn on Traction Control settings (as opposed to only having them turn on when the car thinks it needs them) to keep teens from spinning out, and a max volume for radio can be set at 44%.
These features are all optional and can be changed by the parent at any time. The idea is not to track or take power away from the teen, but to keep them safe. Sure, the teen can still drive without his seat belt fastened, but he won’t get to listen to his music. And, yes, he can still go over the speed limit and get a ticket, he just can’t go over 80mph.
When Ford was working on this safety technology they polled parents and teens alike…
MyKey is appealing to parents of teen drivers, including 75 percent who like the speed-limiting feature, 72 percent who like the more insistent safety-belt reminder, and 63 percent who like the audio limit feature, according to a recent Harris Interactive Survey conducted for Ford.
About 50 percent of those who would consider purchasing MyKey also said they would allow their children to use the family vehicle more often if it were equipped with the new technology. The added seat time can help teens build their driving skills in a more controlled setting, complementing graduated licensing laws that give young drivers more driving freedom as they get older.
More than half of parents surveyed worry that their teen-age children are driving at unsafe speeds, talking on hand-held cell phones or texting while driving, or otherwise driving distracted. More than a third of parents also are concerned that their teens do not always buckle their safety belts when driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), teens are more likely to take risks such as speeding – a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes. Teens also are less likely to wear safety belts than older drivers.
Teens surveyed by Harris said they are largely open to MyKey if it means they will have more freedom to drive. Initially, 67 percent of teens polled said they wouldn’t want MyKey features. However, if using MyKey would lead to greater driving privileges, only 36 percent would object to the technology.
– Full Article on media.ford.com
Ford’s engineer said because GPS systems are built into so many cars it would be easy to integrate GPS tracking for parents to keep an eye on their kids. So, they ran polls for that feature as well. He said even the parent’s survey results were overwhelmingly against tracking their kid’s driving habits via GPS. They felt actually tracking their kids basically said “we don’t trust you,” and that’s not something our teens need. Ford listened and has no plans to integrate GPS tracking.
I want to teach my son to drive responsibly, but I also want him to have some privacy and freedom. I believe My Key would be an acceptable choice for our family, granted we’ve got years to go before we have to worry about having a teen driver in the house!
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I like that WAY more than the GPS and video tracking. Never even heard of My Key before, sounds very interesting. Now if I can afford a 2010 style vehicle!! LOL I still have another 9 years before having a teen driver so we will wait and see!
Great post, informative and well written!
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I agree on the privacy, it’s almost too much. The Taurus is a great car though, and they have good resale value as well.
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