Ford MyKey Questions Answered

Did you catch Ford’s DigiKnows video this afternoon? As I stated yesterday, they discussed the new MyKey which will allow parents to control some features in the car when teens are driving. Don’t fret if you missed the live video. I took notes.

The MyKey will be standard on half of Ford’s cars in 2010, starting with the Ford Focus. The other half of their cars will be equipped with the MyKey by 2011. Unfortunately you cannot add a MyKey to an existing car. The brains behind the MyKey is actually the software installed in the vehicle. Not in the key. So only new cars will have this new technology.

You can have up to 4 keys. All of the keys look the same so a teen doesn’t have to be embarrassed by some special key that draws attention to the fact that they have a MyKey. At least one of the keys is the admin (parent) key. That key is used to turn the MyKey features on or off and change any settings. When the admin key is used you can view the MyKey odometer. So you will see how many miles your teen is putting on the car. And if it says 0, when you know your teen was driving, then it’s likely your teen “borrowed” your key to hide how many miles he/she drove.

The MyKey allows parents to control the volume of the radio, encourages seat belt use, and monitors and controls the car’s speed. Each feature can be turned on or off independently.

• Volume control: If this feature is enabled the radio cannot be turned up more than 44% of full volume. This allows the teen to hear traffic noise and stay alert.
• Seat Belt reminder: When this feature is enabled the radio is muted and a message displays on the dash reminding teens to “buckle up.” They cannot turn up the radio until their seat belt is on. This applies to the driver and the front passenger.
• Monitor speed: If this feature is enabled teens cannot go over 80 mph. Eighty may seem high, but it is the fastest legal speed limit in the United States. Parents can also set the system to chime whenever the car hits either 45, 55 or 65 mph. Along with the chime, the dash will display a message that says, “Check speed. Drive safely.” The goal is to help teens make good decisions about their speed.

Ford polled some teens to see how they would feel about the MyKey. Apparently kids don’t seem to bothered by it. As long as they get to drive they don’t mind a few limits, some chimes and dashboard messages. Plus, according to Ford, insurance companies may start to give discounts for families with MyKey cars and kids are motivated by the cost of insurance.

The MyKey is kind of like having a parent in the car reminding teens to wear their seat belt, watch their speed and turn down the radio. And hopefully it will help reduce teen’s risky behavior when they are behind the wheel of the car.