wow
you guys are all so freakin lame i am having a hard time even conceiving of the type of parents you must have had

being one who lived thru not having a bicycle helmets, or anything resembling safety equipment while motivating about
good god, i didn't even have a car that HAD seatbelts until i was in my 20s

kids are gonna be kids, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it
except raise them to have a sense of decency, show them how to drive correctly, and for god's sake
learn to say NO one in a while, and make it stick

they will be ok... really

godwhacker

Didn't William Gibson predict that, in the future, companies will have run out of names for products and companies? I think we're getting close.

dingus

@Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!: Agreed. Besides, if you go light on an engine, EVERYTHING lasts longer, especially gas.

Git Em SteveDave wants a Lego build buddy

I'll go for the old fashioned not letting them drive. It's way cheaper.

DeCerbo

To clarify: Kids should start out going slow, literlly. If they are forced to go slow, it would help teach them. My idea is a "standard" for all people who get licenses for the first few years. It's a car that has a strong, yet under-powered engine. It incorporates a standard roll cage system to protect the occupants. It features removable seats so that you can limit passengers(starting drivers should be allowed to have ONE passenger max. NJ is trying to do this, but the enforcement is shite). It has a lot of cargo space, and comes with something like onStar. It will be customizable so that they all don't look the same, but they will have a basic shape that is common so all drivers will recognize that it is a starter driver, and can give them lee-way. You can add ground effects, a stereo, sound system, etc..., but the safety items are standard. Every car company can make one, just like a bunch of companies made "jeeps" for the military. They were a little different, but they met certain requirements.

Git Em SteveDave wants a Lego build buddy

@Git Em SteveDave wants a Lego build buddy: Some cars need a child setting, like have 2 or 4 of the cylinders become inactive :P

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

@Munch: Aha nice alliteration
Excellent use of bolding.
Bravo.

zackthebuddha

my kids will hack this in 5 minutes

Weihovah

OK, seriously, kids need to be restricted driving. Not a month goes by that some honor student is put through a tree and guard rail, and some drunk mouth breather lives. And then we have to parachute "grief counselors" into the school. Yet I watch the kid peel out of the high school across the street from me on a rainy day in the brand new mustang mom+dad bought them.

Git Em SteveDave wants a Lego build buddy

@Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!: Yeah, I was just messing around making references, I enjoyed your quoting.

Metkis

It's like living in the worst parts of Appalachia. You can be your son or daughters father and big brother.

Munch the BanNail

Why don't onboard GPS systems already have these abilities? Other than the obvious business opportunity for others...

bmoctta

it is amazing that kids driving between the late-1800s and 2008 even managed to stay alive without wonderful noninvasive technology such as this! i actually read somewhere that back in the olden days kids actually had to like "carry a quarter" around with them as well... because they didn't used to be issued a cellphone at birth! (seriously. look it up! i was startled as well!)

i mean... people are basically extinct thanks to pseudo-unbridled freedom that young drivers enjoy!

where i live we have "police" that "pull over" and "ticket" crap drivers. i always thought that was a pretty good way to do things. that and maybe talking to your kids now and then... just tossing that out there.

x23

@Metkis: Hey man I'm dead serious about the message. Cruelty is the path to peace.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Eh thats why if my kids want a car they will buy their own and insure it themselves. Thats what my parents did. then they can do what ever they want. my kids will not be using me or my wifes car (when i get a wife lol)

majortom1029

@Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!: Careful there, Brian is on the prowl :P

I don't think I would utilize one of these things for my children. Does it give you lee-way on the speed? These country roads are hilly and it's awfully hard to not get going pretty fast downhill without breaking (which wastes the gas normally saved while cruising).

Metkis

@SinAmos:

Don't get porked because you are anal retentive.

Amen to that.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

I love the fact that it gives alerts. I wonder if you can record your own voice or choose different voices. The one I mentioned before definitely doesn't have voice, unless it be my voice coming across the phone yelling at my kid.

AllThingsWireless

Yeah, the problem with this is that kids will totally hack and put speeds like 200 miles per hour during hours they should be sleeping just to pork your brain. Don't get porked because you are anal retentive.

SinAmos

Is this an Xbox 360 peripheral? ;-)

LittleJon

It should have customizable phrases that you can record.

Billy takes out Joanne in his father's Camry, and as soon as he hits 70 in a 55 zone...

"Excessive speed, just like that time you masturbated when your busty cousin Sue came over...."

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

Am I a horrible dad that I have already planned on buying a very similar device that actually hooks up to the computer chip in your car (plug is under the dash) that will also tell me things like hard breaking events (decelerating too fast, i.e. slamming on breaks) and more accurate readout of speed (i.e. speedometer) than GPS? Of course it will have GPS and will tell me when my girls are outside of bounds (i.e. geofencing).... I love control.

AllThingsWireless

I learned on a tractor. 2 Clutches (1 for the PTO), 2 breaks (left and right), 2 gear shifts, and the accelerator was done by hand.

All I have to say is that the driving instructor was shocked when I told him that all I needed to do was get that right front tire in the gutter and I knew my rows would be straight. This could be why my parents never worried. My parents might haven not have worried because I didn't want to dissapoint them. -Comedy

We all know the Russian proverb "doveryai, no proveryai" which by translation we know from Reagan "Trust but verify". When I have kids, if they get their privileges revoked, I could see this as part of a way of paying for redemption. I don't see myself needing to preemptively look for a device like this, but then again I don't have kids.

DeadWriter

Because not speeding means you a safe driver?? Wouldn't it be a better idea to make them take a driving course so they are better drivers at all speeds?(everyone has their limits though)

Abnormal

@godwhacker: You're so tough. =)

Brian Lam

@Weihovah: Bravo!

Brian Lam

I love the sleek, gadgety appelesque logo they've got. Especially since it's really not a "hip" device. Really though, it's a well designed logo.

budash2

This thing is disturbing on so many levels...

Josh_Geyer

@godwhacker: It's the over-protective parent and over-bearing government syndrome that has gotten so bad over the past 20 or so years that it's just ridiculous. I also never wore a bike helmet, and got a concussion while riding, and survived just fine. I wouldn't wear a seatbelt now if I wouldn't get ticketed for it. On the other hand I'd never ride a motorcycle without a helmet, that's just stupid.

There's plenty of studies that show 16 is too young to drive. So, don't let 'em drive till they're 18 and make them pass a very difficult driving test (instead of answering 10 true/false questions). Then retest everyone periodically until they're too old to drive. Since a car is a lethal device, driving should be a privilege, not a right.

rsquared

@Git Em SteveDave wants a Lego build buddy: Tennessee, where I got (and still have) my license, has a 1 passenger rule as well. Enforcement is ok, but more often than not, one's friends will discourage going over the passenger limit; if you're 16 and get pulled over with multiple passengers, you AND your friends in the car will get tickets.

@Git Em SteveDave wants a Lego build buddy: Yeah, I've stopped speeding as much nowadays, not because I'm more responsible or anything, but because gas prices jut keep getting worse.

behavin

What I wan't to know is how this thing will know the speed limit in any given area, especialy if limits are dynamicly managed by electric signs like in european cities, and I think housten has something like that. Because if it only mentions 80+ mph then it would only work on the freeway.

Kevin1a

OMG! Did Brian Lam just double post? Just messin' with ya.

The Magnificen7

@rsquared: I wouldn't wear a seatbelt now if I wouldn't get ticketed for it. On the other hand I'd never ride a motorcycle without a helmet, that's just stupid.

someToast

@godwhacker: Thank you, for being the voice of reason. Young drivers are inherently stupid and no electronic box will fix that. What made me calm down as a kid was having my parents come get my (ie, their) car out of the ditch I'd plowed it into. Why? Obviously because I wasn't allowed to drive anymore but, more importantly, my mom walked up to me, looked me in the eye, and said "You know what? You're an complete idiot." Go figure, tough love outweighs nagging, easily-disconnected devices 10-1.

@Abnormal: The state-run insurance agency here constantly feeds us the "speed kills" line. And it's true: Excessive speed does tend to kill people. Strangely, they don't have a "speed variance kills" campaign. I've yet to figure out why. Seems to me a line of traffic smoothly traveling 120 km/h is much safer than a cluster of cars jockeying for position in the poorly-timed 0-50-0 traffic light race.

bailey_ca

Thank god that i teach my parents about current technology...they will never know that this even exists.

Mike918

I say let 'em speed and do all the stupid shit they want.

Consider it evolution in action.

strider_mt2k

@strider_mt2k: I'd be all for it..right up until the point where they take me out too via t-boning their way to an evolutionary dead-end.

Rift

To the post regarding why these devices aren't already in cars, it's because then it would limit what mobile carrier would cover it and it would add cost to the car.

It's pretty simple tho. Most kids need rules, and this would simply be a tool to help enforce rules. It's the parents car and if they want to ensure that the car isn't driven over a certain limit (i.e. breaking the law) or if they don't want their kids skipping school/leaving the tri-county area, then I see great justification in it.

Mind you, I'm not a parent of kids anywhere CLOSE to this age. Additionally, I would not have needed a device like this as I was pretty tame in the being a shit department, but I definitely see the value. Of course, this could just be an ineffective tool for a power tripping parent who lacks parental skills, which would be bad. Personally, I'd prefer a discrete device that could be used in recovery/general GPS & have another device monitor speed via speedometer and issue 'remarks' on whether the car was going too fast.

Also, you can prevent it from getting good GPS readings by simply placing a large metal object over the top of it. Done... hacked.

AllThingsWireless

@Rift: Yeah.
I have to admit the wife pointed that out to me as well.

There's probably some sort of exception we can put in there or something. :(

strider_mt2k

If my kid's car is breaking, I guess I'd want to know about it as soon as possible. If, on the other hand, it's braking, then I'm not so worried.

And to all you actual and potential parents who want to use such a thing: There's no better way to convince your kids that they must, must, must break (not brake) every last rule this device is meant to enforce. I, for one, would have driven above the speed limit and out of my "zone" every single day this gadget was in my car, until it got removed. Or I would have refused to drive and gotten rides with my friends instead, and avoided the monitoring altogether. Or saved up for my own beater, which would have been significantly less safe than a parent-provided car.

Has it really been that many thousands of years since you were kids yourselves?

Killjoy

Can I get one of these in the form of a chastity belt? My wife is prego and I'm already plotting my strategy...

duffyanneal

I know that I would not enjoy having this device installed in my car.
Instead of installing these types of devices in cars parents should put their kids through a more thorough driving school and spend the money on extra driving classes to help young drivers learn both the limits of their car and how to handle emergency situations.

Yekrut

How does it know what the speed limit is?

I've owned cars that didn't need this device, as they had trouble getting up to the speed limit in the first place.

Seriously, though, always use your seat belt. Please! It's such a simple thing that really can save your life. So, so many people die every day--every hour--who would live if only they had taken five seconds to buckle a seat belt. I've used them for years now, ever since I was a kid and my grandmother was killed when she didn't.

CSX321

@rsquared:
true that, i have just as much time riding with a helmet as without, and i always wear one now, although i have gone from a full face to a 3/4 on nice days
it took me a loong time to train myself to put that belt on every time, but they feds will pull you down for anything these days, and i am not fond of government interaction on ANY level

@bailey_ca:

i never drove my parents wheels, i was informed that there will be two things i WILL do in this life
1. graduate from high school
2. buy my own car and have my own insurance
i made it, but given my own level of stupidity back then, i am amazed to this day why they didn't off me when they had the chance

@Brian Lam:
tough? nahh.(heartless bastard? so i am told)
just being on the receiving end of having to help raise the now-ex-wife's kids, who came to me at 16 yrs old, and running at full ugly.
and now she has been gone for 3 years, and i have had the kids since then.
to the good, today is independence day for me, the kids are moving out, and my living room will be mine once again to turn into the computer lab/geek cave of my dreams...

godwhacker