• '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Imagine a car key that knows when a seat belt is not buckled.

    The key sends a signal to the car which causes a continuous tone to sound and keeps the radio muted.

    Once hte seat belt is buckled, the tone stops and the radio starts playing.

    A normal key can’t do that, but a MyKey can.

    MyKey is a technology designed by Ford that parents can use to set limits on teeen drivers.

    It will first appear on the 2010 Ford Focus, and will be standard, no extra charge feature.

    Brian Bohman, sales manager at Brian Bemis Ford, 1370 DeKalb Ave. in Sycamore, said the technology is found in both the key and the car.

    “The key itself is different from regular car keys,” Bohman said.  “There’s a chip inside the key.  When you start the car, it recognizes the MyKey and automatically sets limits.”

    MyKey limits the top speed of the car to 80 mph and will coninuously chime until the seat belt is buckled, among other functions.

    It also has certain safety features like blind spot monitoring, that cannot be deactivated, said Bohman.

    “There have been a lot of studies about teen drivers and making poor choices.  The MyKey feature reinforces positive behavior and eliminates some distractions,” Bohman said.


    Wow.  So what do you think?  Good idea by Ford?  Bad idea by Ford?  Do you think parents will abuse this?

    I am going to ask Mr. Smacktard to refrain from politicizing this thread like he has the past few threads.  This is about a car, not a government!  Please keep that in mind if you choose to respond.


    Other than that, I think it’s a pretty good idea.  I think if they coupled this with fingerprint scanning technology on the key, we could better secure our vehicles and make our lives easier.

    1)  We could have the car automatically adjust all the mirrors and seats back to their preset locations based on our fingerprint. (We would have to initialize them, obviously.)

    2)  The radio could be tuned to our favorite station and favorite volume not to mention the heat/air could also be set!

    3)  If we could incorporate voice recognition we could eliminate a lot of distractions as well and deny many excuses drivers (not just teen) have not to have BOTH hands on the wheel like is the law in most places.

    4)  With the MyKey parents could actually enforce curfew a little easier. (Set the key to no longer work after Midnight resulting in children having to call mommy and daddy to come get them if they stay out too late.)  Maybe even put a program in there that automatically dials the parent’s cell phone for permission to start the car each time and the parent has to put in a 4 digit pin or something could work too.


  • yeah, i think it is a good idea, i suppose you could have many MyKey’s and set the chip differently for different drivers.
    does it recognise when there is less than the capacity in the car, so as you dont have to buckle all the belt’s.
    i think a lot of the technology you mentioned will be common in the not too distant future. i.e fingerprint technology and preset location’s for mirror’s and seat’s.
    i think the idea of calling a cellphone to start a car is too extreme. good idea from ford.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Well, I don’t know if Ford does it, but I know my Toyota’s both have sensors that detect the weight in the seat and if the weight exceeds a certain threshhold the reminder buzzer for the seat belt goes off.

    This is extremely annoying to me, since my backpack is heavy enough to set off the buzzer!  So I have the seat belt wrapped around the seat and buckled in at all times. (Which annoys any passengers since they have to unbuckle it and untangle it so they can use it!)


  • I have friends with keys that adjust the seats and stuff automatically.  The husband has his key and the wife has hers.  The keys do not have metal tonges that fit in a mechanism either.  They are chips in the end of a plastic holder that talks to the car to say, “He is driving the car now adjust the seats and mirrors.”  If you adjust the mirror or seat after the car starts, the car just lets it go.  But the next time the car is started with that key it still adjusts the seats and mirrors for the “owner” of that key.  It is all pretty neat.  I’m not a big fan of the big brother stuff though.  I expect to be able to trust my kids more than that.  We’ll see.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Trust but verify, IMHO.  I don’t trust big brother, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to not check up on my kids and make sure they are not doing things they shouldn’t.  I’m their mommy after all, I’m supposed to spy on them!

    Yea, I’ve heard of keys you don’t need to put in the locks.  About frakking time they came out with them too!  As long as the key is on your person and the RFID sends a signal, I don’t see why not just have a button you push to start the car.  Now you don’t even have to take the keys out of your pocket and that means never leaving them in the car and calling roadside assistance/OnStar for help!


  • I am way to old school to like such technology. So what happens when the gizmo goes on the blink? I am not a fan of the keyless entry systems either for just such reasons. Not that such is really a concern for me. I drive a 1970 Ford F100 and if I do buy another vehicle, which I doubt, it will probably be along the same lines.

  • '18 '17 '16 '11 Moderator

    Well, keyless entry systems have regular key locks as backups.  As for the Prius, I could be wrong, but I think you can still use it as a key if you want, but you can also keep it in your pocket and the RFID will unlock the car so you can start it by pushing a button. (Which might be nice for you older folks out there with arthritis in your fingers after playing Axis and Allies too many times. hehe)


  • @a44bigdog:

    I am way to old school to like such technology. So what happens when the gizmo goes on the blink? I am not a fan of the keyless entry systems either for just such reasons. Not that such is really a concern for me. I drive a 1970 Ford F100 and if I do buy another vehicle, which I doubt, it will probably be along the same lines.

    What happens when you lose or break a key?

    Not to trump up the praises of technology, but it often gets a bad rep from people who don’t know how to implement it properly.  It can fail, but so can anything mechanical.

    For the record I drive a 93 Chevy S-10.  :-)


  • @Jermofoot:

    What happens when you lose or break a key?

    Considering my knowledge of the wiring systems for Fords of that series I reach up into the dash and snatch the wires out of the back of the ignition switch and proceed to start and drive vehicle. At my leisure I order a new switch and key (which if I recall correctly is about $20). I am assuming that the key broke in the ignition switch. I have never in 20+ years of driving lost a vehicle key. As a matter of fact the only key related issue I have ever had was having one break in the door lock. Solution was similar to above. I used a coat hanger to get in and ordered a new door lock. That particular vehicle was amusing about keys. I had a right and left door keys, and ignition key, and the original that fit the front and rear trunks.


  • So it sounds like your lost/broken key backup plan is actually a liability, but kudos for you for Macgyvering your truck to run.

    And I’ve never heard of a vehicle that required 4 separate keys to access all areas.  :lol:

  • Customizer

    I drive a Ford Edge and it got so many gadgets and stuff that I don’t really need, but I got a good deal on it. There’s something to be said for covienience and comfort and the ability to haul ass.


  • I figured this technology was always out there.  I can’t get into a snorkal lift and have any of the buttons work until the magnet on the gate is satisfied its closed.

    I just thought the states needed the seat-belt ticket revenue.

    LT

Suggested Topics

  • 27
  • 6
  • 4
  • 22
  • 6
  • 111
  • 15
  • 26
Axis & Allies Boardgaming Custom Painted Miniatures

49

Online

17.0k

Users

39.3k

Topics

1.7m

Posts