General Motors wants to help curb teen crashes with a new system that lets parents monitor their kids’ driving habits—even when mom and dad aren’t actually in the car.
Dubbed Teen Drive, the new system will debut in the 2016 Chevy Malibu, offering a bunch of features designed to encourage safe driving. It will, for instance, mute the radio or any device paired with the car when front seat occupants aren’t wearing their seatbelts, and give audible and visual warnings when the vehicle is traveling faster than preset speeds.
It doesn’t end there. Brace yourself, teens, because you might not like this next part too much. The new system also lets parents view a readout of how you drove the car, including how fast you went, how far you drove, and whether any active safety features (like over-speed warnings) were engaged.
Parents can also set the radio system’s maximum volume to a lower level, and select a maximum speed between 40 and 75 miles per hour, which, if exceeded, will trigger warnings.
In its announcement, GM cited stats from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicating that the fatal crash rate per mile driven for 16-19-year-olds is nearly three times the rate for drivers ages 20 and over.
RECOMMENDED BY OUR EDITORS
“We developed this system so parents could use it as a teaching tool with their kids—they can discuss and reinforce safe driving habits,” General Motors safety engineer MaryAnn Beebe said in a statement. “As a mother of two, I know anything that has the potential of keeping one’s family safer is of great value to parents.”
The new technology will be available for the 2016 Malibu as a standard feature in the Premier vehicle and optional with the LT model. The 2016 Malibu will debut at the New York Auto Show next month and is expected to go on sale at the end of the year.
