Study shows some dealers lag in describing teen safety features to new-car shoppers

Ford Escape MyKey Setup and How to Use After Programming

If a new vehicle has special safety features that a parent can apply when their children are driving wouldn’t you want to know about it.  David Brown says it can be hard to find out.

Some vehicles today have features that give parents extra control over their children’s driving, but salespeople often don’t mention them to prospective buyers unless prompted, researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have found. Information about the features can be difficult to find online too.

Systems can limit the speed of the vehicle, keep track of its whereabouts or prevent it from being put in gear if the driver hasn’t buckled up. However, parents need to know about these features in order to take advantage of them.

In an earlier survey of Ford owners who were also parents of driving-age teenagers, more than a third were unaware that their vehicle came equipped with the MyKey system.

Motoring Minutes are heard around Australia every day on over 50 radio channels through the Torque Radio networkMotoring Minutes have an average daily audience of over 150,000 listeners. Motoring Minutes are also broadcast as part of Overdrive Radio Program, which is broadcast through the Community Radio Network across Australia and has a weekly audience of over 450,000. 

About David Brown 607 Articles
David’s boyhood passion for motor cars did not immediately lead to a professional role in the motor industry. A qualified Civil Engineer he specialised in traffic engineering and transport planning. What followed were various positions including being seconded to a government think-tank for the planning of transport firstly in Sydney and then for the whole of NSW. After working with the NRMA and as a consultant he moved to being an independent writer and commentator on the broader areas of transport and the more specific areas of the cars we drive. His half hour motoring program “Overdrive” has been described as an “informed, humorous and irreverent look at motoring and transport from Australia and overseas”. It is heard on 22 stations across Australia. He does weekly interviews with several ABC radio stations and is also heard on commercial radio in Sydney. David has written for metropolitan and regional newspapers and has presented regular segments on metropolitan and regional television stations. David is also a contributor for AnyAuto