Ford's 'big brother' tech watches over teen drivers

To a 17- or 18-year-old high school student, a license and a car equal one thing: freedom. The chance to go where you want and cruise along to your music without the watchful eye of parents. Howard University senior broadcast major Steve Knox remembers there was nothing better than hopping into his car after playing in a Friday night football game and cruising.

"Man those were the days back then," recalled Knox. "Just pop in some Kanye or Common, turn it up and you're good to go."

Knox remembers the days when his mom would be in the passenger side tense as ever when he drove. "If I got close to a car she'd yell; went over the speed limit, she'd yell. If the radio was just a tad too loud, she'd yell," he said.

Ford Motor Company has just developed a key system that gives parents peace of mind while helping teens drive safer and conserve gas. The innovation is called MyKey. It allows parents to limit the speed of the car and audio volume of the radio.

"I take the car to get away from my mother," said McKinley Tech High School senior Jamiese Fox. "If she got this, it would totally defeat the purpose because I would feel she is always right over my shoulder while I'm in the car."

The system allows parents to program any key through the vehicle message center. When MyKey is put into the ignition, the car reads a transponder chip in the key to control speed and radio noise level.

"Say I want to turn on MyKey, and I want to make sure my son or daughter's buckled up, I program MyKey to control this feature," said Andrew Sarkisian, Ford's safety director and one of the creators of MyKey. "If they're not buckled, the radio won't operate."

Along with the radio not working the "Beltminder Chime" will go off for six seconds every minute and a message will display "Buckle Up to Unmute Radio" on the instrument until the seat belt is hooked up.

"I should be allowed to listen to my music as loud as I want to," Fox said defensively. "I don't have it blasting all the time but sometimes on a Friday night when I'm going out with my girls, we just like to let loose."

Fox's mother though felt as though a product like this has been long overdue. "It's natural for a mother to worry bout their child when they are out on their own with a car," said Ms. (GIVE HER FULL NAME.) Fox. "Something like this could help parents sleep better at night and feel that their child is safer."

Other features include an earlier low fuel warning at 75 miles to empty rather than the standard 50 and car features such as Park Aid and BLISTM (Blind Spot Information System) cannot be deactivated.

One of the features being stressed to parents is the ability to limit the top speed of the car. "It has a maximum top speed that you can turn on to the vehicle," Sarkisian explained. "It's a fairly high one, but then there's also speed alerts, so you can have reminders about watching your speed, as well."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has found that teens are more likely to take risks like not wearing their seat belt or speeding. Speeding is a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes.

Lamont Marcus, a senior audio production major, sees MyKey as a good safety feature but he would feel restricted if his parents had done that to him. "It could create a false sense of security," said Marcus. "There are risks with driving every time you get on the road no matter how old you are and sometimes things just happen."

The MyKey feature will be standard on the 2010 Ford Focus is expected to spread to other Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.