Ford's key-with-a-chip to control teen drivers
Ford's MyKey will come standard in the 2010 Focus coupe. Other models will follow.
(Credit: Ford Motor)Ford Motor has found a new way for parents to keep teen drivers in check when they lend them the car, the company said Monday.
MyKey, a car key with a chip, can be programmed to curtail the top speed of its user to 80 mph.
The MyKey will come standard with the 2010 Focus coupe and eventually will be available on other Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury models, according to Ford.
In addition to implementing a speed limit, the key can be used to limit the volume of the car stereo system and emit a chime for six seconds every five minutes until the driver puts on a seatbelt.
MyKey can also be programmed to chime once each time the car reaches 45 mph, 55 mph, and 65 mph to alert young drivers about their acceleration.
Another feature, useful to anyone who fails to notice when the fuel light goes on, chimes when the car is 75 miles from empty. (The light on a Ford usually goes on at 50 miles to empty.)
The new gadget is part of Ford's Driving Skills for Life program, which is dedicated to educating drivers not only about safety but also on techniques for reducing fuel consumption.
Candace Lombardi is a journalist who divides her time between the U.S. and the U.K. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgets, or industrial machines, she enjoys examining the moving parts that keep our world rotating. Email her at CandaceLombardi@gmail.com. She is a member of the CNET Blog network and is not a current employee of CNET.
As for using this Ford feature to control cars, the issue is whether the communications are radio frequency based or whether the key interfaces with circuitry in the ignition. If the former, it is possible to build a back door for authorities to use. The police would then need a transmitter for each company that builds something like this key. It could be a useful thing to use to control a drunk driver, but I would imagine that criminals would simply disable the receiver to avoid granting that control to the police.
;-)
Or better yet just limit the kids to 1.5l cars.
I agree that the radio ought not to work if the seat belt isn't fastened.
Your full decision making capacity isn't mature until your 22 years old.
Nowadays, everyone is driving 80mph on the highway. Actually, let me rephrase, everyone is driving 80 on the parkway! If you limit them to just 65, then they would probably be less safe than if they were going 80. 80 is a nice speed for a highway or parkway when driving non-recklessly and everyone is going the same speed. A nice car system would use a form of GPS to determine if they were on a highway, parkway, or city road to determine the proper speed limit they should be allowed.
To the first commenter: I hope that's a joke because we all know that if cops had such devices they would definitely abuse them and eventually such controls would somehow be stolen and put into the wrong hands.
How about if everyone just slows down and teaches the kids to do the same!
The fact is that the decision making capacity isn't mature until 22 years old because WE DON'T ALLOW OUR CHILDREN TO MAKE THEIR OWN CHOICES BEFORE THAT AGE! Or, rather, you don't. I let my children do whatever they wanted, as long as they were not breaking a few simple rules: 1. Don't damage other people's property, 2. Don't physically harm someone else without their permission, 3. Don't force anyone into sexual situations with threats of force or actual physical force, 4. Don't steal anything from anyone else. Outside of those 4 things, I basically allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do, and it worked QUITE well. The few times that other adults came to complain to me about my children, they were trying to get them in trouble for doing something that they didn't want their children to do.
I told them "Sorry, they weren't breaking MY rules, so I am not going to chastise them at all, and if YOU try to do it, you are going to be in deep **** with me, because only I scold my children."
I do agree that technology can't replace responsible parenting. Unobtrusive limits like these will help to enforce responsible thinking though.
That said, kids will be kids. The one feature I don't like is the one that chimes every 10 MPH after 45, I can see that turning into a game - "how fast can I get it to ping?".
Most kids I know speed on city streets, at least as much if not more than on the highway.
I see your point, it should be tied to a GPS to determine the fastest possible safe speed for the road and adjust accordingly, but wanted to point out that the highway can look like a speedway to a kid.
The other unfortunate thing is kids will yes you to death and go out and do whatever they want. We can only instill so much and hope something hits home.
If a parent really wants to keep their childs speed down take their cars to get the speed governors turned down.!
Give us a break, that's a pathetic excuse and nothing more. I know many parents who have worked it out so that one parent is always home for the kids. It's really not that hard, just stagger your shifts (she works days, he works nights - the evening hours in between is "family time", along with weekends when/if possible).
But that doesn't give you your "me" time to go to the gym, aerobics, drinking, poker night or whatever else you do when you've got rid of the kids. But it's not supposed to be about you anymore, it's about the kids. The ones you have dumped onto child care and the school system to raise for you.
Parenthood is a life sentence with a chance at parole in 18 years. No one forced you to have kids, you did this to yourself. Deal with it before we're forced to lock your little monster up in federal prison for life.
http://www.teensafedriver.com/overview.htm
In this next link a teen driver actually finds herself apologizing to the camera when she realizes she did something to trigger it:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21225268/
Some would say that it is "big brother" intruding on the teen. If an adult in the passenger seat causes a teen to have a heightened state of awareness while driving - which leads to fewer teen driving accidents, then I applaud any device that has the same affect on the teen as the adult passenger.
And 80? They really should rethink that, most highways are only posted at 60 mph and that is fast enough! People think flying down the road will get you home or to work faster until it ends you up in the hospital or jail. Think about it people speeding kills!!!
Speed doesn't kill, being stupid does. There is a difference.
Anyway, the real issue here is for parents to teach their children responsibility. I have only been driving 6 years and have never done anything my parents would be ashamed of because they taught me to be responsible and understand the consequences of stupid behavior. Someone who needs a car to control their kids for them is probably blaming GTA 4 for their violent behavior, too.
The membership committee.
;-)
Take a deep breath kid, you'd be lucky to get a car like this. I had a backside-ugly primer gray Olds diesel when I was your age. Slower than a glacier, it at least came after the era of seat belts but didn't have much in the safety or excitement departments. I still figured out how to have a great time with that car though. These are your best years, quit crying and enjoy them!
1: use a GPS syle interface that knows the MPH of the street you are on and won't allow the vehicle to be driven more that 5 mph above that limit (5 mph due to variances in speedometer calibration and accuracy). This would apply to ALL drivers, not just teens.
2: don't allow the car to start unless the seat belt is buckled. a sensor on the seatbelt could tell if the driver was lazy and buckled the belt and then sat on the seat. This would ensure that the seat belt was around the body. easy enough and shouldn't take too much to incorporate this functionality.
3: limit acceleration rate
4: radar/laser/IR tracinkg device that keeps the diver from tailgating the car in front. similar to what is used in the 'smart' cruise control units.
1. Using GPS to limit speed may sound good on the surface, but ...
- What happens when the GPS is wrong? If you've ever used GPS, you'll know we'll end up with even more traffic congestion because several drivers cannot exceed 30 mph on the freeway.
- What happens when your son falls off the roof and you live in a rural area, far from ambulances? Not only will people die because their cars will not let them be in a hurry, but the manufacturer will be sued out of existence.
- The public doesn't take kindly to having their time wasted and their lives controlled by fascist policies. Good luck getting re-elected if you are a politician who tries this idea.
- This will increase the price of a new car, putting more buyers out of reach of newer, safer, and more efficient vehicles.
- US DOT studies show that speed limits are set 5-15 mph on average BELOW the ideal safest speed for roads in the US. This is a lucrative way for local governmnets to extort revenue from the public, so they will also fight this policy. Now maybe, instead of limiting speed, the car notified police, local governments would support it ... They do this in Singapore, which is NOT a model we want to follow.
2. Preventing the engine from starting unless the seat belt is fastened means more stranded drivers when the sensors fail, and increased vehicle prices. How are the cops going to make up for all of those lost seat belt tickets? How about internet download taxes or maybe a tax for speaking your mind. We could have higher tax rates for speech that our Dear Leader deems is offensive.
3. Limiting acceleration is not a new idea. I believe some cars (Corvette?) already have a "valet mode" to limit horsepower. But it is the choice of the owner when to use it.
4. If you use radar to prevent tailgating:
- Without the ability to turn this system off, it will cause a standstill in heavy traffic. Other drivers will continuously pull into the "safe following distance" in front of you.
- Drivers will become accustomed to it and trust it. When these systems fail (and everything fails), there will be accidents and accompanying lawsuits.
1. Using GPS to limit speed may sound good on the surface, but ...
- What happens when the GPS is wrong? If you've ever used GPS, you'll know we'll end up with even more traffic congestion because several drivers cannot exceed 30 mph on the freeway.
- What happens when your son falls off the roof and you live in a rural area, far from ambulances? Not only will people die because their cars will not let them be in a hurry, but the manufacturer will be sued out of existence.
- The public doesn't take kindly to having their time wasted and their lives controlled by fascist policies. Good luck getting re-elected if you are a politician who tries this idea.
- This will increase the price of a new car, putting more buyers out of reach of newer, safer, and more efficient vehicles.
- US DOT studies show that speed limits are set 5-15 mph on average BELOW the ideal safest speed for roads in the US. This is a lucrative way for local governmnets to extort revenue from the public, so they will also fight this policy. Now maybe, instead of limiting speed, the car notified police, local governments would support it ... They do this in Singapore, which is NOT a model we want to follow.
2. Preventing the engine from starting unless the seat belt is fastened means more stranded drivers when the sensors fail, and increased vehicle prices. How are the cops going to make up for all of those lost seat belt tickets? How about internet download taxes or maybe a tax for speaking your mind. We could have higher tax rates for speech that our Dear Leader deems is offensive.
3. Limiting acceleration is not a new idea. I believe some cars (Corvette?) already have a "valet mode" to limit horsepower. But it is the choice of the owner when to use it.
4. If you use radar to prevent tailgating:
- Without the ability to turn this system off, it will cause a standstill in heavy traffic. Other drivers will continuously pull into the "safe following distance" in front of you.
- Drivers will become accustomed to it and trust it. When these systems fail (and everything fails), there will be accidents and accompanying lawsuits.
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by walwebster
October 7, 2008 7:46 PM PDT
- Get used to the idea -- the Golden Age of Motoring is over. Insurance companies think this stuff is the duck's nuts, and they'll make you pay till you agree with them. And if we know anything about technology, it's that it moves and morphs so fast it'll make an 80 mph cap look like snail's pace. This is only the very thin end of what will (very quickly prove to be) a very fat wedge.
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See all 51 Comments >>Technology's one of the least expensive ways to make the roads safer. Helluva lot less enjoyable for some of us, but a lot safer, too, for most -- many of whom frankly need all the help they can get. Go out now and get yourself a good old all-mechanical banger, and you might just be one of the last to be compelled to retrofit it with nanny-tech.