To improve the safety of young drivers, Chevrolet is introducing an industry-first "Buckle to drive" system that will be offered as standard on the 2020 Traverse, Malibu, and Colorado, which will all arrive in dealers this summer.

When activated, the system prevents the driver from shifting the vehicle out of Park for up to 20 seconds if the driver's seat belt is not buckled. When the brake pedal is pressed, the driver will hear an audible alert and a message in the driver information center will be displayed reminding them to buckle their seat belt. It isn't clear, however, if the vehicle can be shifted out of Park after 20 seconds have passed.

"Buckle to Drive is Chevrolet's latest feature designed to encourage young drivers to develop safe driving habits right from the start", said safety engineer Tricia Morrow. "Buckle to Drive is embedded in Chevrolet's Teen Driver system and is aimed at helping remind teens to buckle up every time they get behind the wheel."

The "Buckle to drive" system" is part of Chevrolet's Teen Driver system introduced in 2015 that allows parents of teen drivers to register a different key fob that limits certain vehicle functions to keep their children safe. For example, it automatically mutes the radio until the driver and front passengers fasten their seatbelts, limits the maximum volume to a lower level, and automatically activates safety functions such as Forward Collision Alert in cars equipped with the technology.

In addition, parents can set a speed warning between 40 and 75 mph that actives visual and audible warnings whenever the speed is exceeded. Top speed can also be limited to 85 mph. When the young driver returns home, parents can then make sure they have been driving safely by looking at a report card that tracks the maximum speed they traveled, the distance they drove, and whether any over-speed warnings were issued. They can also see how many times safety systems such as ABS, traction control, and stability control kicked in.