Parents to teens: MyKey or highway By Thomas Grillo/ BostonHerald.com Friday, November 6, 2009 Ford Motor Co. is trying to give parents of teen drivers some peace of mind - or at least a sense of control.       The Detroit-based automaker has introduced MyKey, a feature which allows parents to program their car’s top speed, limit the radio’s volume and shut off the music if the seatbelt is unbuckled.       “A Ford engineer came up with the idea, because he wanted to make sure his daughter was safe while driving the family car,” said Ford spokesman Tyler Partridge, who demonstrated the MyKey technology at Muzi Ford in Needham yesterday.       With a few presses of a button on the dashboard, parents can limit their teen driver’s top speed to 80 miles per hour, set the sound system not to exceed 44 percent of its total volume and even regulate seatbelt usage with a chirping monitor. MyKey is standard in the 2010 Taurus and Focus models and is expected to be introduced soon to other Ford lines.       State Rep. Brad Hill, an Ipswich Republican who introduced a measure on Beacon Hill to expand training requirements and increase license restrictions for teen drivers, said yesterday he hadn’t heard of the new MyKey feature but was impressed.       “What a great idea and what a creative technology for Ford to have in its cars,” he said. “As a parent of a 17-year-old who recently got his license, I want as many safeguards on my side as possible.”       On Monday, Ford posted surprise profit of nearly a $1 billion in the third quarter and said it was on track to become “solidly profitable” by 2011 after years of painful losses. ( tgrillo@bostonherald.com )