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Ford Motor Company's world-first technology will allow parents to block explicit radio content and offer four top speed limits so they have more peace of mind while their youngsters are driving. The new features are major upgrades to Ford's award-winning MyKey teen safety technology that is a standard feature on most new Ford and Lincoln vehicles. This innovative technology allows parents to limit a vehicle's top speed and audio volume, and can even mute audio if front seat belts aren't buckled. Andy Sarkisian, (Sar-kay-zian) Safety planning and strategy manager at Ford, says MyKey is a big hit because Ford listens to what customers want.
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| Cut #1: | "We're continually listening to the customer and making improvements and a couple of things that we heard in particular, was being able to have alternative top-speed limitations, so that's one of the changes. The other is, there is a lot of freedom in the vehicle today and that's great for our young drivers, but it can also be distracting and some of the programming on Satellite radio is something that parents were concerned with." :21 sec. |
| Starting with the Ford Taurus and Explorer in late 2011, parents will be able to use a V-chip-like feature to block explicit programs while their teen is driving, as well as limit their car's top speed to 65, 70, 75 or 80 mph, in addition to the current safety features available through MyKey. | |
| Cut #2: | "We have the equivalent of a V-Chip that will allow parents to filter-out certain adult programming on satellite radio. In SIRIUS radio they actually broadcast a little code for adult programming and so when My Key is turned on, we look for that code and if that code is present in the channel that the MyKey driver is listening to it will suppress that channel and a message will be on the radio that says, that has been suppressed by MyKey." :30 sec. |
| Sarkisian says Ford expects to have this technology on 80-percent of their vehicles in the near future, and went on to say they have had very positive feedback from sales people and consumers. | |
| Cut #3: | "Sales people have told us that when they have a buyer and the buyer has teenagers and they mention the MyKey feature on it… every single one of them says how do I turn that on and there have been no complaints coming back." :13 sec. |
| 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. MyKey is an innovative addition to Ford's SecuriLock™ passive anti-theft and allows the parent to program any key through the intuitive MyFord Touch interface. When the key is inserted into the ignition, the system reads the transponder chip in the key and immediately identifies the MyKey code, which enables certain default driving modes, including: Ford's Beltminder system that chimes every six-seconds till the seat belt is fastened, earlier low-fuel warning, and now parental control of mature radio programming, plus limiting top speed of 65, 70, 75 or 80 mph and traction control systems, that limits tire spin, which cannot be deactivated. |