Ford's MyKey to safety for teen drivers controls speed, stereo

DEARBORN, Mich. -- Andrew Sarkisian says he finds inspiration in other people's lives, but raising two teenage girls may be more inspiration than he's willing to admit.

Sarkisian, safety manager at Ford Motor, is considered the father of MyKey, a new technology to help parents control some of their teen drivers' behaviors. Ford is rolling it out on several models this year.

The 31-year Ford veteran raised two teenage girls, now both in their 20s, and experienced firsthand something parents dread: learning his eldest daughter, Lauren, was in a rollover accident.

Then came Lauren's second rollover accident — not her fault — and he started brainstorming.

"We wanted to find a way for parents to virtually be in the car with their teens, like they're sitting in the passenger seat coaching them along," he said.

Last year, 4,497 young drivers ages 16 to 20 died in car accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Car accidents are the leading cause of death for that age range. Teens are 10% of the population but account for 12% of car fatalities.

MyKey lets parents configure one key as the teen's. When the car is started with MyKey, top speed can be limited to 80 mph, and chimes can be set to sound at 45 mph, 55 mph and 65 mph.

Seat belt use is encouraged in two ways: If the driver and passenger don't put on their belts, a chime sounds until they do. Possibly more important to teens: The audio system won't turn on until the front two passengers are buckled up.

It can also max out the audio at half volume (which is still plenty loud), keep track of the young driver's mileage and provide earlier low-fuel warnings than standard.

The decision to make MyKey standard was more than just a marketing maneuver, says Amy Marentic, Ford's marketing manager of large cars and crossovers. The automaker wanted MyKey to be on every car so parents with younger kids who don't need the technology now could have it later, even if they didn't think it was a priority when their children were 9 years old, and buyers of used cars can have it even if the previous owner didn't have children.