Ford Expands MyKey availability

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Ford is expanding availability of its MyKey safety technology – which allows parents to help encourage young people to drive safer with top-speed and audio volume limits – to four more vehicles by 2015.

Parents are most concerned with their children driving while distracted – and young people admit to this as their most common risky behaviour – in a survey commissioned by Ford with the support of NRMA on driving behaviours.

Feedback from Aussie parents has driven updates to MyKey, including a reduction in the speed limit setting, as the feature expands from Fiesta ST to Focus, Mondeo, Mustang and the full Fiesta range.

SYDNEY, October 8, 2014 – Australian Parents worry their children are driving distracted and young drivers say they are doing so more than twice as much as speeding on the freeway, another frequent risky driving behaviour admitted by young drivers.
New research commissioned by Ford with the support of The National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) has revealed 61 per cent of parents have concerns about their children not paying attention to the road or being distracted by others. These concerns are well justified, according to the research, with nearly 40% of young people admitting to driving distracted.

The survey of 400 parents and 432 young people from across Australia, was conducted by Galaxy Research to gain a better understanding of the behaviours and concerns of both parents and young drivers.
This topic is particularly urgent as young adults are one of the most at-risk groups on the road – they are 2.5 times more likely to be killed in a crash than any other age group according to the Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety. Further, the crash risk for drivers is highest in the first 6-12 months of solo driving, suggesting the need for further education and behaviour monitoring during the early stages of driving.

According to the research, one of the key issues is speeding with 41 per cent of parents ranking that as their number one concern. Among the young drivers studied, exceeding the speed limit was the second most risky behaviour behind driving distracted, and young males were twice as likely as young females to drive in excess of 120 km/h.
“Ensuring the safety of drivers on our roads is the key priority for the NRMA. We hope this research by Ford supported by NRMA helps to raise this important discussion with parents and young drivers to help curb unnecessary incidents,” said Jack Haley, NRMA Vehicle Expert.
“Ford’s MyKey technology can help parents set limits and guidelines for their young drivers, making the roads a safer place for all motorists.”
In fact, Ford’s MyKey allows owners to set speed alerts and limit the vehicle’s top speed and audio volume to provide additional peace of mind for parents. The feature – which debuted as standard equipment on the 2013 Ford Fiesta ST – will now begin to rollout throughout the Fiesta, Focus, Mondeo and Mustang ranges throughout 2014 and 2015 providing even greater safety benefits to Australian motorists. In addition, the speed limit setting has reduced as part of direct feedback from parents from a maximum limit of 140 km/h to new lower limits options including 100 and 110 km/h†.

MyKey offers parents the ability to:
- Limit the vehicle’s top speed to help reduce excessive speeding
- Limit the audio volume to help reduce driver distraction
- Set speed alerts to help remind drivers of speed limits
- Prevent the audio system from activating until the front-seat passengers fasten their seatbelts to help encourage seatbelt use
- Raise the low fuel warning to 140km distance to empty to help prevent young drivers from becoming stranded due to a low fuel situation

When asked about the prospect of buying a vehicle with a technology like MyKey, nearly half (43%) of parents surveyed would buy or consider buying a car which included features that allowed them to set the maximum speed, radio volume and mute the audio unless a seatbelt is in use. Further, nearly 3 in 4 parents (72%) said they would feel better knowing their children were safer when driving.

Interestingly, young people also welcomed the safety offered by MyKey with 90 per cent of young people reporting that they would be open for their parents to help them purchase a car with MyKey.
Ford MyKey is now available across the Fiesta range and will roll out across other nameplates including Focus, the all-new Mondeo and Mustang in 2015.

The MyKey maximum speed should not be set to a limit that will prevent the driver from maintaining a safe speed considering posted speed limits and prevailing conditions. The driver is always responsible to drive in accordance with local laws and prevailing conditions.
Source: Ford Media