A friend of mine was telling me about how they equipped their driving-age teenager’s car with a monitoring system…without their knowledge…enabling them to track where she was going and whether or not her car was where she said it was supposed to be WHEN it was supposed to be there.
My inner sixteen-year old said, “WHOOOAAA! That’s a dirty trick and an invasion of my privacy and don’t you trust me?” *insert ear-wrenching amounts of whining*
My outside mom said, “WHOOAAAA! BEST.IDEA.EVER!”
I mean, I want my kids to have some freedom when it comes time for them to start driving, but more importantly, I want their safety and the ability to step in if I see them pulling total douchebag moves like, oh, say, LYING ABOUT WHERE THEY’RE GOING TO BE.
Maybe that’s just me.
I’m getting to participate in what should be both a fun and interesting opportunity while in Chicago at BlogHer. Ford is taking a group of us to their factory and giving us a tour of their production line, letting us try out some of their new technology and to show us how they’re handling the needs of consumers in quality, fuel efficiency, the environment and technology.
WHAT WOMEN WANT VEHICLE TECH AND QUALITY EVENT….which sounds great, right? And I really would tell you that what I want in a car is decent gas mileage, enough storage space to haul three kids and all their misc crap, and reliability.
But, after reading some of the upcoming technology they have coming in their 2010 line of cars? Maybe I do want more.
Because you know what I want now? It’s called MyKey. And for any of you with teenagers driving your car, you may want to LISTEN UP!
This is a safety precaution that’s going to be standard in the 2010 line of Ford vehicles…and it may be one of the best weapons in the war with your teenage driver I have ever heard of.
You, as the owner, can program the MyKey that your teenager *coughor husband*cough* uses…and it limits the vehicle’s top speed and…AND?….the max volume on the radio.
Dude.
Seriously? I would have hated that as a teenager.
However, having recently known about a car-full of teenagers that died in a wreck caused because they were a) speeding and b) driving like morons….I can’t stop my kids from potentially being idiots while driving, but I will do whatever necessary to teach my kids to respect the fact that they’re driving a gas-filled bomb on wheels.
I could use your help here in telling Ford what women want in a car…what technology would you like to see?….are you more concerned with the effects on the environment?…are you worried about safety and reliability?…tell me what you want in a car and I’ll be taking those answers with me to Ford and letting them know what’s important to all of us.
Thanks!
**and again….I’m not being paid by Ford to tell you about this stuff….they are putting me up in the Chicago Sheraton for an extra night because I have to fly up early and they are feeding me while I’m with them for the event…no payment.**
***which doesn’t mean I’m not totally going to do my best to get them to sponsor me and some friends for a road trip, because WHY NOT?***
***or that I wouldn’t take a free car. I’m not proud. Tell me you wouldn’t.***
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Uh….I’m driving a craptastic car right now, so all I really care about is reliability. And fuel efficiency. And Ford? Do you wanna give me a car?
Miss Graces last blog post..Girl Talk Thursday – Turn Ons
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Part of me wants to say stop trying to justify the extra freebies you’ll get at BlogHer – just go for it girl and get what you can. The other side of me is screaming, if you get given a free car I’ll hate you forever and never post you again!! (Wasn’t the eye poppingly, shapely, gorgeous LBD enough. Just tell me you were sucking in your stomach as much as possible in that photo!!)
My daughter’s been driving just over a year and I’d hate the idea of tracking her. She saved hard from her w/e job to pay half for her car and we paid the other half. She’s far too proud of it to wrap it round a tree or anything like that and she’s even careful which friends she takes if it’s her turn to drive. They can drink over here at 18 and she’s not risking anything! My boy? Different kettle of fish. He’ll be 17 in November and can’t wait for his first lesson. Now he’s the one I’m gonna need the tracking device for. And the MyKey. Tell them if they want someone to test drive it in England they can send it over to me. That way you can share the freebies around. Only fair don’t you think!!
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
dude, I would love the mykey and the tracker. This is why My teenager has a video phone so she can send me a video of her enviroment 360 degrees around any time I ask her. Crazy, sure…but I wasn’t a teenager all that long ago.
Too cool on going-so jealous that you will be in the company of those other groovy ladies. I can’t wait to see you-I will totally SQUEE when I get to the train station.
xoxo
Heather @ Domestic Extraordinaires last blog post..Preparing for BlogHer
on Jul 17th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
My parents did a similar thing to our car when my brothers and I were teenagers. They installed a govenor that would record how fast we were driving. It was no secret to us because once you hit the max speed that they had set on it, it would emit this LOUD obnoxious beeping noise to kindly let you know you were going too fast. My brothers response??? Turn the radio up louder!!! I can’t tell you how many times I was in a careening car, going way too fast with the radio too loud.
I’m glad that Ford is trying to figure out what parents want and install it on the cars. Very cool. And very cool that you are involved. YAY!!!
dcokequeens last blog post..Paying for torture
on Jul 18th, 2009 at 11:31 am
I’ve driven two Fords… my biggest problem was that they had minor manufacturing issues… the window getting stuck, stuff in the console breaking. That was almost a decade ago, so maybe they’ve improved upon that. I think environmental issues play the largest role in my considerations… says the woman who drives a mid size SUV (but it gets great gas mileage considering.)
As for tracking my teenagers… hmmm, I lied to my parents a few times about where I was and I turned out OK. Safety matters aside, part of growing up is having the courage to test authority, act on that, and then realize that it was kind of stupid in the first place all by yourself. I’d rather my kids screw up while they’re a kid rather than when they’re “grown up.”
Still, a safe kid is probably better than a hurt one? Luckily, I have over a decade to figure this out.
Faiqas last blog post..If Michael Jackson Were Punjabi…
on Jul 18th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
It should be the law that children have the MyKey. A month ago I was hit head on by a 17 year old going 50 in a 25 zone. My car spun, my air bags deployed, and I haven’t stopped being in pain since the accident. My car was completely destroyed. Why? Dumb teen speeding not paying attention because he had friends in the car..
on Jul 20th, 2009 at 12:48 am
I think I would’ve hated it too growing up but since I didn’t get my license nor a car till I turned 19 and by then was a mbr of the AF it wouldn’t have really affected me too much back then. Now, however, since I became a family of 5 (my niece lives with me now and she’s 14) I think I would love it! I don’t even want to think of her driving or the day when we might have to help her with a car but when and if (I’m hoping someone else will help out with the car:) we get to that road I want to make sure she’s as safe as I can possibly make her when she’s out of my care. I mean, I know there’s only so much I can say and show and teach her and hope it’ll stick b/c once she’s out of my sight it’s all on her. I get the privacy thing for a kid, which I’m sure is an argument that I’d hear from my niece, but I’d rather be invasive to a point and still have a 14yr old than not be and have the unthinkable happen. Not that it would if we didn’t have this option but I think I’d feel better with having it. Just my own two cents.
on Jul 21st, 2009 at 8:41 am
[…] would be no Ford test drives, no awesome jewelry from Sorelli meeting me in Chicago along with the Yummy Tummy garments sure to […]
on Aug 1st, 2009 at 1:20 am
[…] car in my blind spot or if a car is coming from the side that I cannot see…does NOT have the MyKey technology and, frankly, does not look like THIS little piece of […]
on May 11th, 2010 at 4:21 am
Car Safety is always on the top of my head that is my i always use modern gadgets that could enhance the safety of my brand new car.-`;