When your child is behind the wheel of a car, you always have a lot to worry about. A variety of factors can hinder the safety of young drivers, and distractions are high on that list. Now, a new feature of Ford Motor Co.’s MyKey technology will block incoming phone calls and text messages, limiting distractions when drivers are on the road.
The Do Not Disturb feature, which was first made available on all 2011 Ford vehicles that featured SYNC with MyFord Touch, will now be available as a feature that parents can control through MyKey beginning with the new Explorer in early 2012. When hooked up to SYNC, Do Not Disturb blocks incoming phone calls and text messages from Bluetooth mobile phones paired to the SYNC system. Instead of allowing the driver to receive calls, they will be diverted into voicemail, while text messages on the device will be stored for viewing later. Why not just turn the phone off? If you did, you would lose the ability to make voice-activated outgoing phone calls and to use the SYNC 911 Assist feature to make an emergency call.
Multiple safety studies have found that looking away from the road as you would do when receiving a text is closely associated with near-crash and distraction-related accident involvement. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), teens are more likely to take risks like speeding and not wearing safety belts. Distracted driving is also a contributing factor to many crashes that involve teens.
Along with the Do Not Disturb feature, the 2012 edition of the MyKey system features include the ability to set a top speed of 65, 70, 75 or 80 miles per hour; a no-belts, no-tunes feature that mutes the audio system until front occupants buckle up; and the ability to block satellite radio channels that feature adult programming. Audio system volume control, an early low-fuel warning and the prevention of deactivation of the traction control system are other MyKey features.
