Ford's key to safety

Ford has produced the key to parents' peace-of-mind.

The U.S. car-making giant has produced a car ignition key to make teen drivers adopt safer and more fuel efficient driver habits.

Called “MyKey”, the feature is set to become standard on the 2010 Focus coupe in the U.S. and subsequently will be offered on other U.S. Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

The key can be used to limit the vehicle's top speed and sound system volume as well as programming the car to issue earlier “low-fuel” warnings. The system, which also can be programmed for alert chimes at several different speeds, reads the ignition key and sets the appropriate driving mode.

The standard seatbelt reminder can be extended to include muting the sound system until seatbelts are used. The key also can keep active safety systems - such as parking radar, blindspot warning and stability control - from being deactivated, as well as limiting the top speed to 130km/h.

Reduced speeding also is beneficial to fuel economy, which Ford's research says can be improved by as much as 15 per cent driving 88km/h instead of 104km/h.

Ford group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, Susan Cischke, said the company was committed to crash protection systems and developing new technologies.

“MyKey can help promote safer driving, particularly among teens, by encouraging seatbelt use, limiting speed and reducing distractions,” she said.

Ford electronics engineering team director Jim Buczkowski said they had upgraded the existing anti-theft system. “Simple software upgrades . . . we've developed a new unique feature that we believe will resonate with customers,” he said.

“We also developed MyKey's functions in such a way to quickly spread it across multiple vehicle lines, giving us the ability to go mass market in the spirit of other Ford innovations such as safety belts, stability control and SYNC.”

Ford Australia public affairs brand manager Edward Finn said the system was a U.S.-only proposition at this stage. “Ford Australia has a keen interest in new technologies offered by Ford Motor Company and monitors these developments as they are introduced,” he said.

“We will consider consumer interest and demand in relation to new developments to ascertain if they are desired in models available for sale in Australia. Until that time, we are not prepared to speculate on future model plans or possible features of new models.”

Ford's research shows 75 per cent of parents of teen drivers liked the speed-limiting feature, 72 per cent liked the more insistent safety-belt reminder and 63 per cent liked the audio limit feature.

The survey also said about 50 per cent of parents would consider purchasing MyKey and said they would allow their children to use the family vehicle more often if it were equipped with the new technology.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says teens are more likely to take risks such as speeding - a contributing factor in 30 per cent of all fatal crashes. Teens also are less likely to wear safety belts than older drivers.