Can Tech Keep Teen Drivers Safe On The Road?
Posted by meredith on 11-13-2008The recent rise in distraction-related car crashes among teens has inspired quite a few high-tech solutions. And while it would seem that the easiest answer would be to create a smarter teen driver rather than a smarter teen car or a smarter way for teens to text while driving, it'll be interesting to see whether any of these ideas will actually be effective.
The Smarter Teen Car: Next year Ford will introduce MyKey a computer chip that parents can install in the key to limit the car's speeds to 80 mph and set a maximum volume for the audio system on some 2010 models.
The Smarter Way to Text and Drive: Vlingo is a new mobile phone service that enables users to send text messages without typing. Just say the message, confirm it's correct upon Vlingo's receipt, and send.
As for that Smarter Teen Driver? Not a complete lost cause. We covered this in Essentials earlier this week, but there is an effort being made by Allstate Insurance to educate teens about the risk they take by driving while distracted.
November 17th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Teen driver safety is indeed a critical issue. Teens are distracted by many different factors. As a representative from State Farm, we are also doing what we can to help parents and teens better understand the driver safety.
State Farm, together with Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, conducted a comprehensive study regarding teens and driving. We think this study will help parents better understand the issues teen drivers and help them better communicate to their teens. The results of the study are available at: http://www.statefarm.com/_pdf/teen_drivers_research_report.pdf
State Farm also has for specifically for teens and their parents: http://www.betterteendriving.com/
I hope you find this information helpful.