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Chevy Malibu 'Teen Driver' Tech Will Snitch If You Speed

mpicpp writes General Motors wants to help curb teen crashes with a new system that lets parents monitor their kids' driving habits—even when mom and dad aren't actually in the car. Dubbed Teen Drive, the new system will debut in the 2016 Chevy Malibu, offering a bunch of features designed to encourage safe driving. It will, for instance, mute the radio or any device paired with the car when front seat occupants aren't wearing their seatbelts, and give audible and visual warnings when the vehicle is traveling faster than preset speeds. It doesn't end there. Brace yourself, teens, because you might not like this next part too much. The new system also lets parents view a readout of how you drove the car, including how fast you went, how far you drove, and whether any active safety features (like over-speed warnings) were engaged. Parents can also set the radio system's maximum volume to a lower level, and select a maximum speed between 40 and 75 miles per hour, which, if exceeded, will trigger warnings.

12 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yeah because you know... by Jax+Omen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Today's brand new 2016 car is next decade's shitbox old 2016 car.

  2. Re:How About by taustin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because then you'll have shithead 20somethings on the road instead, with no parental supervision whatsoever.

    The only way to learn to drive is to drive.

  3. Re:How About by sexconker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because then you'll have shithead 20somethings on the road instead, with no parental supervision whatsoever.

    The only way to learn to drive is to drive.

    The difference is teens are much more shithead-like than 20-somethings (not that I haven't noticed the increasing prevalence of 20-something shitheads), and teens are often not held responsible (legally or financially) for their actions (further enabling shithead behavior).

  4. Re:Yeah because you know... by kuzb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Old doesn't necessarily mean unsafe or unreliable. Plenty of people drive 10 year old cars that are not putting them in danger.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  5. A cheaper solution by Thraxy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you don't trust your kids, don't lend them your car.

  6. Re:How About by sexconker · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They got greedy, and the spineless, scrupleless generation of "parents" caved.

    Billy gets an F in 6th grade English and still gets a new XBOX with the latest Call of Duty.
    Tammy gets knocked up at 14 and still gets a new iPhone with the latest apps.
    Chris is caught using drugs behind the school and still gets a new car that the parents can't really afford.

  7. Re:How About by invictusvoyd · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The first thing a geek teen is going to find is the "manual override"

  8. Re:Doesn't matter by sexconker · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not letting them on the road seems a little extreme but do they have to have a brand new car? What happened to having a beater to putt around in for the first few years?

    What does it matter to you? Sure I drove a beater like most of us but if a parent puts their kid in a new(er) car, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that unless the kid develops an entitlement complex from it. If the money isn't an issue to them it really shouldn't matter to us either.

    Getting a shiny new car for your first car is typically a symptom of being a spoiled brat.
    (And yes, if the parents can afford a shiny new car to give their kid as their first car, they're likely very well off and thus the kid is likely a spoiled brat.)
    Spoiled brats don't have to deal with consequences. Spoiled brats will drive like assholes. A shiny new car enforces this mentality, and it encourages driving with friends and doing stupid shit.

    Have you ever even met a teenager?

  9. Teenagers shouldn't be driving NEW cars anyway by jonwil · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Teenage drivers with fresh licenses should be driving older cheaper-to-buy cars.

    Unless a teenager (or their parents) are rich, they should be buying an older cheaper car that doesn't require taking out a massive auto loan. In Australia the usual recommendation/good option is something small and Japanese like a Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Suzuki Swift, Mitsubishi Lancer, Nissan Pulsar, Mazda 323, Honda Jazz or something like that but in the US the best option may be different.

    1. Re:Teenagers shouldn't be driving NEW cars anyway by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Civic vs Generic SUV will be a one-sided fight no matter what happens.

      A while back I had a look at the actual data. At the time, there was some sort of Mercedes station wagon that had the lowest number of fatalities. My take away was that if you can afford a relatively new car with modern safety features (e.g. for the family but to share with the teen) then the smaller cars are plenty safe.

      I did have some neighbors who had a daughter who wasn't very "focused" as a teenager ("airhead" was the terminology we used back in the day). Well, long story short they did the selfish thing and put her in the biggest SUV they could get their hands on. Everything was fine until she got a bit distracted and rear-ended a smaller car at a stop light. She wasn't hurt herself but the baby in the smaller car wasn't so lucky. Thing is, she almost certainly would have been fine herself in a smaller car - but in a smaller car she wouldn't have had to live out the rest of her life with the guilt of what she did to that baby.

  10. Re:Yeah. by epyT-R · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's people like you who create the oppressive dystopia the future generation will have to clean up after.

  11. Re:How About by gfxguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No. There's plenty of space to learn - and now there's recourse for abusing the freedom they've been given. The car doesn't shut off, the parents are required to remove driving privileges... if my kids want to drive my car, there are rules. I already told my son (months away from getting his license) that I will never buy him a car - I will by myself a car and let him use it as long as he's obeying the rules. He didn't complain... I don't owe him a car. It's a privilege. If he doesn't want to be monitored, he can pay for his own car and his own insurance... it's just that simple.

    --
    Stupid sexy Flanders.