Just The Facts, Ma’am – Part 2 of 3 Ford
October 28, 2008
Part Deux (haven’t you always wanted to have a reason to use that phrase? me too – I know it’s pretentious, but I love it so it’s staying in there!) at long last!!
Enough about me and my adventures – the reason Ford let me come out to Detroit with all of those amazing journalists was so that I could see, experience, and write about their new safety features and initiatives. Since it only took me, oh, 3 weeks to finish this? I’m going to be thorough, dang it!
Let’s start with MyKey™ – because honestly? If you have kids (especially those of driving age or thereabouts) this is going to be the dream function for you!
I’m going to go out on a pretty secure limb here and say that this will be an industry standard down the road… Ford’s just way ahead of the curve on it.
MyKey™ is a programmable “smart” key that will be standard (that’s right, I said *standard* not optional-will-cost-a-fortune-but-would-have-been-nice-to-have) on all Ford cars by 2010. They’re rolling it out with the 2009 Ford Focus first, because that’s the most popular car for teenagers in their lineup.
Through a series of simple, easy steps, using the “Administrative key” (read: magic key which controls the universe! Parents or wives only! heh) any of the smart keys can be programmed to be a MyKey™. The Administrative key can be used to change any of the settings at a future date if desired.
What the heck is a MyKey™? Well, it’s a key you can give to your teenager (or *cough* spouse) that makes driving just a little bit safer in today’s world of distractions like cell-phones, texting, loud-music and general, you know, driver-distracting mayhem.
Here’s a list of settings you can program with the MyKey™:
- If the driver’s seatbelt isn’t fastened? The alarm will continue to sound (no shutting it off) and better yet? The stereo/music system will not function until it is fastened. It will display a message to that effect to remind the ‘forgetful’ driver to buckle up for safety!
- Speaking of stereos… the MyKey™ allows you to set a maximum volume for the sound system (44% of maximum) when that key is being used. No worries that your teen won’t hear the firetruck behind him because his MP3s are blasting at ear-shattering levels!
- Which of course leads to another safety bonus – no disabling the traction control! Your teen won’t be spinning his tires or peeling out to look cool.
- And there won’t be any “I ran out of gas!” with this MyKey™ – the Gas Light goes on at 75 miles left rather than 50. That curfew at 10pm won’t be broken due to being low on gas!
- But I did save the best for last, of course. Speed. It’s what every parent worries about. Because we know that without years of experience, you just don’t have the reflexes at high speeds to react in time to avert danger. The Ford MyKey™ allows you to set a maximum speed on the vehicle – 45, 55, 65 or 80 mph. And the driver will be alerted as s/he approaches the maximum speed. So when you say “no driving on the highway” you’ll be able to back it up with “remember, the car won’t go past 45, so stay off the highway, kiddo!”
So you have all these features – but the best part? You can program up to 8 keys for the car. They cost the same as any smart key would, no extra. So there’s the “fully functional” parent car and the “safety enabled” teen driver car all in one – just by taking 2 minutes to program the MyKey™. Give your newly fledged teenage driver her own MyKey™ and you’ll be more likely to give her time to drive it, knowing that she’s not out trying to impress her friends while picking up her little brother & sister from school or driving to the mall.
Okay, so that’s the MyKey™ – the thing that’s had me all excited since they showed it to us. What else? Well leave it to Ford to keep bringing on the safety features. The same day we learned about MyKey™ – they introduced us to Collision Warning with Brake Support, Lane Departure Warning, the Blind Spot Mirror, and BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert. Not just one major new safety feature, but *five* in one day! And they are rolling these all out by the 2010 models if I understood correctly.
In the interest of time and bandwidth, I’m going to hit these pretty fast. I’ll be giving you my thoughts on them in the next post – but if you really want more information on any of the features than I’m giving here? You can spend a ton of time drifting about the Ford.com website (I know I have!)
Collision Warning with Brake Support
This one is so simple yet brilliant. A last minute alert, a radar set behind the front fender uses a brilliant (and very fine tuned) algorithm to determine if you are approaching a vehicle that is slowing too fast or stopped and you are headed for a rear-end collision. At the last possible moment to avoid the collision reasonably, the system alerts you visually and audibly and also primes the brakes for use. (One note: priming the brakes is not the same as engaging them – sometimes, the best way to avoid a collision is to swerve around the other vehicle and accelerate. The car doesn’t choose for you, it just makes sure that if you choose to brake? The response is faster.)
Don’t worry – the algorithm is very good – it’s not going to keep going off in traffic. It really only goes off if you are about to hit the car in front of you. Having tried this in real-life on the test track? I can verify that it’s really a last-minute, you’re-going-to-hit-this-if-you-don’t-act-now alert.
Lane Departure Warning
This one essentially just lets you know if you are slowly drifting out of your lane. Cameras determine if you are drifting over the painted lines and alert you. While we were there, they were testing 4 different types of alerts. The first was an audio alert that came out of the speakers <i>on the side of the car that you were drifting toward</i> so if you are listing to the left? The beeping came from the passenger-side speakers. The second alert was a vibration that came up thru the driver’s seat on the leg side that the car is drifting toward. This alert only the driver feels. The third and fourth were both steering column alerts which are non-directional. One a vibration, the other a pulse.
But I’ll cover that more in part 3 – where I discuss the difference between ‘drift’ and ‘lunge.’
Blind Spot Mirror
This was mentioned – but I didn’t personally experience it. This is apparently an inset mirror that allows you to see a vehicle that has entered and is driving in your blind spot.
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BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) with Cross Traffic Alert
Now this was interesting. The BLIS performed two functions – both of which use radar to increase your awareness of the blind spots and traffic that poses a hazard. In the first case, radars set in the rear bumpers detect cross traffic when backing up out of a parking spot. With more coverage than either reverse sensing systems or rear and side-view mirrors, this gives the driver nearly a 180 degree safety zone. Backing up, the radars will detect vehicles (or children on bikes or pedestrians) crossing the car’s path – especially at a 90 degree angle.
The second function identifies a vehicle driving behind you entering into your blind spot (as seen above) and alerts the driver using a light in the side-view mirror as well as a message. Again, the algorithm here is well tuned. Passing other cars won’t set off the alerts – only a car approaching your car’s blind spot from behind will do that. The intent is to let the driver be aware that there is a car that has crept into that spot.
Okay – so now you can kind of see why it took me so long to get this written up, huh? So many new safety features! Seriously, I kept saying wow. But I’m going to leave that for Part 3. Now that we’ve gotten the details? Next I’ll give you my own GeekMommyish reviews!
Thanks for your patience. I expect if you’re like me, you’re now impatient to find out when and how you can get some of these features! Well, that’s another thing I’ll refer you to Ford.com for! Next up – what it was like to experience these features and what I thought of them.
All images courtesy of Ford – http://media.ford.com – all Ford trademarks, images, and terms are used solely to refer to the products reviewed and remain the sole property of Ford.
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4 Responses to “Just The Facts, Ma’am – Part 2 of 3 Ford”
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I read about the key, which sounds like an impressive extension of helicopter parenting, but these other features are new to me. I think you are right about Ford rasing the bar on safety. These are great features.
My 2000 Subaru already has a Collision Wanring System with Brake Assist. It’s also known as MY HUSBAND. When he thinks I’m getting too close to the car ahead of me because the car 6 cars ahead of me is braking, he slams his passenger seat emergency brake. It’s like the one driving instructors have…only this one is imaginary.
Interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing.
This is a great concept. I really like the technology which the car companies are starting to embrace. It will be very interesting to see what they come up with in the next few years with internet connectivity becoming more of a need than a want by many.
Very nice post.
@Kim – I’m the one who does that in our car – hence my husband let’s me drive 99% of the time, since he’s afraid I’ll put my leg thru the floorboard if he doesn’t. I’m *not* a good passenger!
@Tom – yeah I was really amazed at all the work they’ve done on these safety initiatives and utilizing technology in creative ways. Was a nice geeky afternoon!!
Car Safety is always on the top of my head that is my i always use modern gadgets that could enhance the safety of my brand new car.:~*