Ford's MyKey system locks down teen drivers 7 Oct 2008

Yesterday, Ford announced that it will begin rolling out a new technology called "MyKey" across its entire range of vehicles. What's MyKey? Well, it's a system that can regulate certain functions of the car depending upon which key the driver uses. For example, you could program one of your MyKeys to limit the speed of your car to 80mph, limit the maximum stereo volume to 44 percent and trigger a sustained alarm when any occupied seat is unbuckled.

Who's MyKey for? The primary audience is parents - specifically, parents who worry about the driving behaviour of their teenage children when they aren't there to supervise them (No need to worry about little Johnny speeding if you can force him to stay below the legal limit).

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Ford's user research suggests that parents love the idea of MyKey, while teenagers...well, let's just say that aren't too fond of it! (Interestingly, however, the teens' attitude did change during testing when it was suggested that they might be allowed to drive the family car more often if their parents adopted the MyKey system).

[via OhGizmo!]