>Parents with teenage children who drive have another reason to set their minds at ease. The Ford Motor Company has a new piece of safety technology called MyKey.
Similar to programs that restrict what children watch on television, parents can limit teenage drivers to a top speed of 129 km/h, cap the volume on the car stereo, demand seat-belt use and encourage other safe driving habits.
MyKey will sound a chime, much like a speed limiter, whenever the vehicle travels above 70, 88 or 105 km/h. MyKey can also be set to mute the radio and chime repeatedly until the driver is buckled up.
Parents choose which of the restrictions to activate. The restrictions take effect whenever a specific key is used in the ignition.
This is the first attempt by a car maker to provide parental controls on young people behind the wheel, where their inexperience and tendency to take risks can prove deadly.
"Teens have the lowest seat-belt use," said Ms Susan Cischke, Ford's group vice-president of sustain- ability, environment and safety engineering, in a press statement. "So we allow parents to turn up the annoyance factor a little bit."
Such a feature, according to safety advocates, could give parents more peace of mind and discourage dangerous behaviour. However, they are not sure of its effectiveness in preventing crashes and making young drivers more responsible.
Ford officials also noted that MyKey has some benefits unrelated to safety, like saving petrol by making drivers slow down.
The MyKey feature will be standard on the 2010 Ford Focus. Eventually, it will be also available on all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.
