Here's a good idea and more's the pity that it will only be available in Ford vehicles - initially the 2010 Ford Focus.

To start with, at least.

In an effort to reduce the accident - and death - rates of teenage drivers, Ford has developed a technology that allows parents to have some control over their teenagers' operation of a vehicle.

Linked to the computerized anti-theft technology, MyKey allow parents to: limit the top speed of a vehicle; to set alarm signals when a vehicle goes over a certain speed; to ensure the traction control cannot be deactivated; to limit the volume of the radio; and to disable the radio if the seat belts are not buckled.

Maine-based Ford spokesperson Ellen Hall was in the area Tuesday to demonstrate the technology on a hybrid Ford Escape at the Tasca Auto Group complex in Cranston.

"The idea is to teach good behavior rather than being punitive," she said when asked whether the technology included the ability to shut the car down completely. "To teach skills that will serve (teenagers) the rest of their lives."

She said speed, having the radio on full volume and not using seat belts were the biggest risk factors.

The technology lets parents select a speed - such as 45 mph - that will result in a warning ping going off. In addition, the car cannot be driven faster than 80 mph.

"It will not let you go over 80 mph, even with your foot to the floor," she said.

In addition, if the driver and the passenger, if there is one, do not attach their seat belts, a warning ping will go off and the radio will turn off after about a minute. It will only turn back on when the seat belts are buckled properly.

"Teenagers will not drive without the radio," she said.

Finally, and Hall described this feature as "brilliant," parents can limit the volume level of the radio to 44 percent of its full potential.

"It's a major distraction," she said of teenagers' fondness for listening to music at full volume. "They can't hear sirens or horns or the passenger next to (them)."

Noting that she has seen two teenage sons start to drive, she said it was a shock to sometimes get in a car after they had driven it.

"It's most upsetting to get in the car in the morning and the radio is on full volume," she said. "It jumps you out of your socks."

For more information, go to: www.drivingskillsforlife.com.

- Peter C.T. Elsworth