Patent ID: 8751105

Claim:
A system for providing a restricted operating mode of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes a driver seat for a driver, rear passenger seats for one or more rear seat passengers, and vehicle accessories for operating in the vehicle, the system comprising: at least one primary key adapted to be assigned to a primary driver; at least one secondary key adapted to be assigned to a secondary driver; a key ignition device positioned on each of the primary key and the secondary key and adapted to generate driver status signals indicative of whether the driver is at least one of the primary driver and the secondary driver; a seat occupancy sensor for detecting the presence of at least one rear seat passenger; a passenger restraint system having an engaged condition for providing crash protection for the at least one rear seat passenger; and a controller operably coupled to the key ignition device and the seat occupancy sensor, wherein the controller includes a memory storing first, second, and third sets of rules defining respective restricted operating modes containing a plurality of limitations to be applied to operation of the accessories in conjunction with the secondary driver, the controller being adapted to: determine whether the driver of the vehicle is the secondary driver in response to the driver status signals; determine whether a rear seat passenger is present; determine whether the rear seat passenger is restrained; and selectively impose operational limitations to at least one of the accessories to reduce potential distractions when the secondary driver is detected, wherein the controller imposes i) the first set of rules characterized by moderate operational limitations in response to a determination that no rear seat passenger is present, ii) the second set of rules characterized by stricter operational limitations in response to a determination that a rear seat passenger is present and every rear seat passenger is restrained, and iii) the third set of rules characterized by strictest operational limitations or deactivation of an accessory in response to a determination that any rear seat passenger is present and unrestrained.