ord adds to MyKey safety system

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Ford adds to MyKey safety system
By Stuart MartinHerald Sun06 January 2011
The MyKey technology could appear in the facelifted Mondeo and upcoming new Focus, both due this year.
Speed-limiters and radio filters for young drivers could be part of the Ford features list before the end of the year.

The new Focus and Mondeo are among a growing list of Ford product that could support the updated MyKey safety system, which in the US can be used to restrict young drivers' access to satellite radio stations and limit vehicle speed.

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Much of Ford's US product has the MyKey feature (launched in the US in 2009), which started with a speed limited function but has been further developed to restrict accessible radio stations when their children are driving their new Ford.

The revamped MyKey system is claiming the world-first radio restriction technology is joined by an upgrade to the speed limiter that has four different settings - 105km/h, 113km/h, 121km/h or 129km/h - as well as muting the radio and maintaining the seatbelt warning.

Ford's engineering director of electrical and electronic systems Graydon Reitz says the company wants to give parents peace of mind that their kids are following rules in the car.

"Parents obviously like this type of feature, and many teens are OK with it when they hear parents may give them the keys more often if the car comes with a technology such as Ford's MyKey," he says.

The company quotes research involving parents of teenage drivers showing almost 60 percent who say the feature to block adult radio programming is important and 85 percent who believe the speed-limiting feature is important - the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research says teens are more likely to take risks such as speeding, which it says is a contributing factor in 30 percent of all fatal crashes.

In the poll, more than half of parents also said they would allow their teens to use the family vehicle more often if it were equipped with MyKey.

Even the teenage drivers say they like the system - 45 percent of those surveyed would approve of the MyKey system if it meant better access to the family car.

The upgraded version of MyKey will debut as a standard feature late this year on the US Ford Taurus and Explorer models and is expected on the features list of a range of Ford and Lincoln US models.

Ford Australia Neil McDonald was unwilling to nominate a debut model for the system in Australia but says the company always looking at these new technologies and its application locally.

"Absolutely we'd like it, limiting speed for young drivers and things like that, if its feasible and fits into any of our future products and we can offer it at an affordable cost - standard or optional. There's a lot of questions to be answered before these things can get the tick, not the least of which is how the systems can be applied locally for our product line-up," he says.

The MyKey technology could appear in the facelifted Mondeo and upcoming new Focus, both due this year.

"These new technologies are obviously things we'll look at when they're appropriate for our market, ultimately it comes down to cost and affordability. But (looking at) the safety features of MyKey, there's a good case to have some of these devices to limit the speed of young drivers and not being able to turn off the active safety devices as well," Mr McDonald says.

Parents can program the MyKey function through the ignition key, putting the car's system into the appropriate "tune" for teen drivers.

The car's seatbelt reminder ups its alert from a six-second reminder chime every minute for five minutes - with the MyKey system , the chime continues and the sound system is muted until the seat belt is secured.

The teen driver also gets an earlier low-fuel warning, up from 80km to 120km to empty and safety features such as parking sensors, blind spot warning system and traction control cannot be turned off.

Ford US is also spruiking the MyKey benefits for fuel economy - the company's research says driving at 89km/h instead of 105km/h consumes 15 percent less fuel.