For teens, being handed a set of car keys is one of the most liberating moments of their lives. It means freedom, independence, and the chance to crack the speed limit a tad, knowing that there’s no risk of being nagged from the passenger seat. Unfortunately for any newly minted drivers getting behind the wheel of a new Volkswagen, that freedom may be short lived.
Volkswagen
The German auto maker has announced that it is hard at work on a new Apple Watch app that will send all kinds of special alerts to the owner’s wrist, including notifications whenever the car speeds or passes outside of specific GPS boundaries. That means that every unsanctioned country drive or impulsive press of the gas pedal could potentially result in a very unhappy parent waiting in the driveway.
The app, called Car-Net, has been available since the release of the 2014 line of Volkswagen vehicles, but the launch of Apple’s much anticipated wearable offers an even more intimate way to connect with your car, and an even more immediate way for parents to keep tabs on their young drivers.
Imagining someone seeing their teen driver’s behavior transmitted to an Apple Watch map as it moves across the screen sucks all the fun out of that would-be joyride. But with motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among 15- to 20-year-olds, perhaps a little added oversight isn’t a bad thing.
H/T TechCrunch | Photo via State Farm/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)