It used to be that passing your driving test meant getting the keys to a whole new kind of freedom, away from watchful parental eyes.

But now a new device is threatening this rite of passage by effectively giving parents the ability to spy on their offspring and check up on their driving, even from miles away.

This gadget that thwarts teenage kicks is called Safety Center, and is made by a US company named GreenRoad. It is about to go on trial in Staffordshire as part of a scheme aimed at reducing the accident rate among young drivers. The system includes a “black box”, containing a GPS locator to calculate speed, plus various G-force and motion sensors to monitor the novice driver’s manoeuvres. The data are then relayed to a website at which anxious parents can remotely monitor their children’s driving.

Dangerous manoeuvres, such as accelerating too hard while going round a corner or pulling out too quickly when overtaking, are signalled in red on a password-protected personal web page. Green indicates good driving and amber points to areas that need improvement.

Another device, which includes two small LEDs, is fitted to the dashboard and will flash red or amber whenever a bad manoeuvre is detected, warning the driver to change their behaviour.

As the system is not hooked up to a database of speed limits, it will not flash if the driver is simply breaking the limit. However, the website will list an average speed for each journey; if the average is 80mph, parents will know their child has been speeding.

Safety Center has recently been adopted by some US and UK fleet companies, and GreenRoad claims to have reduced crash rates among its current clients by 54%, and high-risk driving behaviour by 50%. The company says the device can also cut fuel consumption and emissions by reducing aggressive acceleration.

Staffordshire county council plans to test the device as a way of promoting safer driving among teenage drivers. More than 14 young drivers and their passengers are killed every week in Britain, and male drivers aged 17-20 are almost 10 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured behind the wheel than are men aged 40-59.

The local authority is looking for 50 teenage guinea pigs to take up a free trial of the new device. Surprisingly, 30 people aged between 17 and 19 have already volunteered to give their parents a fly-on-the-steering-wheel view of their driving habits.

This will be the first time that GreenRoad’s system has been used to monitor people in their own cars. If the Staffordshire trial proves successful, the company envisages leasing Safety Center at a cost of £25 per month. Although there are no plans at the moment to sell the devices direct to individual customers, the company is also in discussions with insurance companies about how Safety Center could be used to help reduce premiums for young drivers who can prove they drive carefully.

Adrian Hide, head of road safety for Staffordshire county council, says: “People have a tendency to think they are better drivers than they really are.

“The aim of this trial is not to spy on young people then punish them, but to highlight where they are going wrong so they can change their behaviour and avoid accidents.”

But newly qualified teenage drivers may not see it that way. Having thrown away their L-plates it’s unlikely they will be keen to invite their parents to be virtual backseat drivers. And perhaps parents should take a moment to think where this might lead; the more accepting we are of “black-box” recorders in cars, the more likely it is that we will eventually find them under our own bonnets – as part of a national road pricing scheme, for instance.

Old-fashioned parental nagging about sticking to the speed limit might prove less costly in the long run.

BEAST OF BURDEN

Camelbak Vantage 30 rucksack £120 www.zyro.co.uk 01845 521 700

Bid adieu to sweaty-back syndrome as you yomp round the Lakes or blitz down a bike trail. This innovative rucksack has a special back panel with eight spring-loaded pads – rather like the suspension system of a car. In addition to making it more flexible, the U-shaped design of these pads helps to hold the rucksack away from the body, giving a useful 2in air gap. As with all Camelbaks, the 30-litre capacity Vantage has a drink-storage bladder to help you keep your thirst at bay. As this bladder has its own pocket, the liquid is less likely to be warmed up by body heat, and it can be more easily accessed. In tests, the Vantage 30 did precisely what it’s maker claims, and despite minor gripes about its pockets, it represents a decent step forward in rucksack design. However, the price is double that of a good conventional rucksack.

SPEED DIALLER

Asus ZX1 Lamborghini phone About €1,000 (£765) www.asus.com/uk 01442 202 700

Lamborghini has licensed its brand to a company that has badged up a smartphone to appeal to car lovers. The ZX1 is made by Asus and has a main control shaped like a Lambo badge, plus software that displays a speedometer-style clock on the home screen. Touchscreen navigation, a fast HSDPA data connection, GPS and wi-fi are included in the lavish specification. Expect a European launch in May.

GO FLAT OUT

Life Fitness F3 folding treadmill £1,895 uk.home.lifefitness.com 0845 130 2182

Struggling to accommodate a home gym in your tiny flat? Then don’t worry, as you can work off your doughnuts on this fully functional treadmill, then fold it away into a cupboard. The F3 comes with five workout programs, two cupholders and a reading rack. However, the 10mph top speed and 12-degree maximum incline are less than on nonfolding models.

gear@sunday-times.co.uk

Explore Personal Tech

• InGear