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Ford To Introduce Restrictive Car Keys For Parents
thesandbender writes "Ford is set to release a management system that will restrict certain aspects of a car's performance based on which key is in the ignition. The speed is limited to 80, you can't turn off traction control, and you can't turn the stereo up to eleven. It's targeted at parents of teenagers and seems like a generally good idea, especially if you get a break on your insurance." The keys will be introduced with the 2010 Focus coupe and will quickly spread to Ford's entire lineup.
Do Fords even go up to 80?
Don't know if an external component speed limiting the Focus to 80 is really necessary anyway.
--- You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad- Neal (not Cowboy) Boortz
would have saved me the humiliation of "racing" my parents' taurus
Apparently, a Cheetah.
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
Just like what if the government decided that everyone should have a 10 PM bedtime, and no desert for a week after yelling at your sister. Parenting a slippery slope people.
Apparently, spelling and grammar help readers understand what others are writing.
Go live in atlanta, dc, or pennsylvania for a while. Then type that with a straight face.
prolly easier to type with my hands and a keyboard, wherever i am
GM already did that in a car where cutting back the car's performance makes a difference - a
"valet" key limited the 1990-1995 ZR-1 Corvette to 225bhp or so, by shutting off the secondary intake runners and secondary fuel injectors.
Who's going to notice the difference in a Ford Focus? Limited power or not, 0 to 60 still takes about eight weeks. Traction control? Can a Focus actually break traction on dry ground?
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
Depends on the direction. It could well be accelerating at 9.8m/s^2. But if that's the case, you're screwed anyways.
How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
This is Slashdot. You can't post sensible educated posts like this! ;)
.: Max Romantschuk
Because they will just download their own cars, for free.
Alternatively parents could try having a mature and trusting relationship with their teenage children...
-= This is a self-referential sig =-
My first car was ... a 1978 Chevette. (And no, it wasn't even *close* to new, so you don't need to get off my lawn).
Simple really ... it wouldn't do 80mph if it was going downhill with a tailwind.
Never did I contemplate trying to do donuts, burnouts, or high speed. There simply wasn't a chance of any of those things being possible.
(We saved that for my friend with the vintage GTO. )
Some water-scooters are using this concept already - you have your own key which allows full speed, and a key for your girlfriend, which limits the max. speed to around 60% of the original top speed.
80 is perfectly legal in the US, if you are British. Your average cop clocks the accent, the weird driving licence and poor dental hygiene and decides that it just isn't worth the hassle.
I'm sure plenty of us here were driven to learn more about their computers in order to circumvent the restrictions placed upon them. This will encourage youngsters to learn more about how their cars work, and how to "upgrade" them. Finally, the smart kids will be faster!
Maybe you should drive on the road then! ;-)
Common sense is not so common
Best advice for a concerned parent: buy a POS for your kid's first car. A 3 cylinder Geo Metro comes to mind, this way they will be too embarrassed to showoff, and wont be able to drive over 60 let alone 80.
that unlocks the car only after you pass the test (and use the MyKey key as well!). Or will that result in potential drunk drivers beating the crap out of sober passers-by, and get them to breathe into the Breathalyzer..