Chevy's 2016 Malibu May Help Teens Become Safer Drivers

When your teen driver is finally ready to hit the road, a lot of emotion is flying around. They're reliving that feeling of euphoria about a new form of mobility, and you're worrying like crazy. While it might be a nerve-wracking experience for parents, Chevy might be able to help. The 2016 Malibu has some interesting features that may help your teen become a better driver, and give you a better idea of how they drive while you're not around.

Aptly named 'Teen Driver', Chevy's new onboard system has tools to help parents encourage better driving habits in their teens. Teen Driver can do things like mute the sound system when the driver or passenger don't have their seat-belts fastened, and give audible cues when your teen goes faster than the preset speed you set for them.

Parents can also see, on-screen, just how their teen is driving. "We developed this system so parents could use it as a teaching tool with their kids – they can discuss and reinforce safe driving habits. As a mother of two, I know anything that has the potential of keeping one's family safer is of great value to parents" said General Motors safety engineer MaryAnn Beebe.

The 2016 Malibu can keep track of how far your teen drove, their max speed, and even how many times they were warned about driving too fast. Parents will also see if the stability control kicked in, if the antilock brakes were triggered, and if collision alerts or braking events happened.

Parents can also set the maximum volume of the radio to encourage more alert driving, and all alerts are incapable of being muted when Teen Driver is active.

Chevy's Teen Driver is opt-in, and requires parents to set a PIN code.

If you aren't in the market for a new car, Automatic has some similar features with License+. While you can't set limits as you can with the new Malibu, it's another handy tool for encouraging better driving habits when you're not around.

Source: Chevy