WASHINGTON — A new system could ease the stress of handing the keys of a new car to a teenager.
A new technology from General Motors, called the Teen Driving system, is giving parents a way to keep tabs on inexperienced drivers while encouraging them to stay safe.
“It’s basically circuitry within the vehicle that allows you to generate a report card on your teen’s driving habits,” says James Bell, Head of Consumer Affairs for GM.
Parents can enter a password before a teen uses the car, then retrieve the data after. In between, the car’s computer keeps track of the top speed reached, whether any safety systems were triggered – like antilock brakes, stability control, or forward collision alerts – and distance driven.
“If the teen says he’s driving to go pick up his girlfriend and then go to the movies and it’s about a 10 mile drive, and then you look at the report and he’s done 26 miles…well now you have a conversation to have, “ Bell says.
Parents can also set a maximum allowable speed of up to 75 mph. While the driver can surpass that speed, doing so will trigger a visual warning on the dashboard, accompanied by a chime. A record of the driver having gone over the maximum allowable speed will also be made. Bell says drivers are still allowed to surpass the maximum speed in case doing so might be necessary to avoid an accident.
The system also mutes the stereo system if those in the front seats are not buckled-up. The 2016 Chevrolet Malibu mid-size sedan, which is expected to go on sale later in 2015, will be the first car to get the system.
“We think it makes a lot of sense on a car like that, at least initially, because mom and dad will be driving it during the week, and maybe the teenager is clamoring for it on the weekends.”
But Bell says Teen Driver could soon expand to more models.
“If it catches on, which we think this is going to, you’ll definitely see it on other vehicles in the near future.”
GM cites numbers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that the fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. is nearly three times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over.
Ford already has a system on many models aimed at increasing safety for teen as well as commercial drivers.
Called MyKey, it also allows for a restricted driving mode which mutes the stereo if seat belts are not fastened and sounds a chime when certain speeds are surpassed. Unlike GM’system, MyKey does allow vehicle owners to limit the top speed outright – at 65, 70, 75 or 80 mph.
