Monday, October 06, 2008

Ford Designs My Key Feature to Stop Teen Speeding

We all remember that day when our parents handed over those coveted keys to the family car.

 For guys, it was the glorious first step toward freedom, and the perfect expression celebrate that independance was to leave some tread marks down the neighborhood street. However, those days may soon be over for the modern teenager, thanks to efforts from motor companies such as Ford.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.5,000 U.S. teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes, fatal and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers ages 30 to 59.

As a result, Ford decided to put the parents back in control with a  new device that will limit a car's speed (a max set to 80 mph) and radio volume and sound an alarm if the safety belt is off. Ford's Focus will be the first model with the feature, but MyKey will eventually be implemented into every model.

Jim Buczkowski, Ford's director of electronic and electrical systems engineering, told the Chicago Tribune

Our message to parents is, hey, we are providing you some conditions to give your new drivers that may allow you to feel a little more comfortable in giving them the car more often...It's making use of existing technology, and through the magic of software, we're able to build features on top of the features we already have.

I appreciate and applaud Ford's effort to ensure safety, but I don't think this innovation will do much to stop the funds from bleeding. Their viewpoint  reminds me of politicians, who like to deliver flowery speeches, but fail to address the most vital needs of the people, or, in this case, the consumers. They've offered us extra safety, but aren't  tackling the  other crucial aspects, such as efficient engines and quality parts that don't degrade after 50 thousand miles.

For the time being, foreign cars still have the upper-hand in overall quality, and that's why Detroit, the former motor capital of the world, is deteriorating.

Posted By Matt O'Hern at 04:45 PM
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