If you know teenagers, you probably are aware of the fact that the word “danger” many times says nothing to them. If you’re a parent and you’re worried about your teenage offspring’s driving skills, you should know that Ford is going to implement in their upcoming Ford Focus (2010) a system that will allow parents to partially control how their kid is behaving behind the wheel. This is no Orwellian device that will divulge information directly to Big Brother, the system is called MyKey and it aims at safe driving.

MyKey is a system that will limit the maximum speed the car can reach at 80 mph, limit the volume of the car stereo at 40% and warn though sound alerts if the seatbelts aren’t worn. Parents will also be able to set the system to sound warnings if the car reaches a threshold of 45, 55 or 65 mph. Ford announced that the new Focus, which will be available for sale in 2010, will be the first car equipped with MyKey. Even so, there’s a large possibility that MyKey will become a standard feature on Ford vehicles and it might also spread to Lincoln and Mercury.

Some research has shown that speeding is the main cause of car crashes and this is a common issue when it comes down to teenagers or novice drivers. Speed is a fascinating thing to experience but this should only be done in controlled environments. It’s a fact that cars now are faster and more powerful than ever; and if you combine this with the trend of car tuning and the popularity of racing video games, the result should be pretty obvious. The fact that Ford has thought of a way to handle some of these issues is going to be a big hit among concerned parents. Unlike on the road, a “hit” in the automobile industry, usually, means sales and profit.