Garmin Southern Africa are excited to announce the new Garmin Drive product line, which is comprised of easy-to-use portable navigation devices (PNDs) specifically designed to help increase driver’s awareness. The launch of the Drive Series marks a significant step forward in the evolution of PNDs from Garmin with four intuitively named models: Garmin Drive, Garmin DriveSmart, Garmin DriveAssist and Garmin DriveLuxe.

“The most exciting development of the new Garmin Drive Series is that the driver awareness features typically seen in luxury vehicles are now accessible as an aftermarket solution for all drivers,” said Mathys Thompson, Automotive Product Manager at Garmin Southern Africa. “There are many distractions that drivers encounter while running errands, driving to work or taking road trips. These new driver alerts can remove some of these burdens and help drivers stay aware on the road.”

The entire Garmin Drive lineup boasts a number of driver alerts to encourage safer driving and situational awareness. These include, warnings for upcoming sharp curves, railroad or animal crossings, alerts for users driving the wrong-way on a one-way street and more. Drivers also receive red light and speed camera alerts as well as vital timesaving traffic information with fast-approaching traffic jam notifications. For longer routes, a fatigue warning alert suggests potential break times and available rest areas or places to stop.

In addition to the new driver awareness features, the Garmin Drive Series includes preloaded data from Foursquare POIs, adding thousands of popular stores, restaurants and more. Various models offer options for lifetime maps and traffic updates. Other features designed to simplify navigation include Garmin Real Directions, which guides drivers using recognisable landmarks, buildings and traffic lights; and Easy Route Shaping that lets drivers modify a route to include preferred cities or roads by touching the navigation screen.

The Garmin DriveSmart boasts all of the features from Garmin Drive and adds customisable smart notifications that allow drivers to display calls, text messages and app notifications on the navigation screen. Voice-activated navigation and Bluetooth wireless technology for hands-free calling allow drivers to keep both hands safely on the wheel. Garmin DriveSmart can also access Live Traffic information through the Smartphone Link app or via Digital Traffic, the fastest traffic avoidance solution offered by Garmin, with updates as often as every 60 seconds.

Garmin DriveAssist builds on the Garmin DriveSmart and includes a built-in dash cam to serve as an eyewitness. The device continually records and automatically saves video footage on impact with the included microSD card. The integrated camera brings in more advanced driver awareness alerts, such as the Forward Collision and Lane Departure Warnings. Additionally, Garmin DriveAssist integrates the new “Go” Alert, a camera-assisted feature that notifies distracted drivers when traffic ahead of their vehicle begins to move. As drivers approach select destinations, Garmin Real Vision unveils a camera view on the screen of the device and an arrow points out the specific destination.

The stylish Garmin DriveLuxe is an impressive premium navigator housed in a beautiful forged metal design. Powered with a sleek magnetic mount, the Garmin DriveLuxe offers automatic dual orientation and innovative navigation features for more driver awareness.

All Garmin Drive devices can be paired with the Garmin BC 30 Wireless Backup Camera (sold separately) to easily see behind a vehicle when moving in reverse.

The Garmin Drive lineup has models in different display sizes with various map regions and navigation features. Suggested retail prices range from R1 999.00 to R5 999.