Garmin Southern Africa has announced the new Garmin Drive product line, an easy-to-use portable navigation devices (PNDs) specifically designed to help increase drivers' 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, Garmin Drive 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.

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. Garmin Drive devices may also be paired with the new Garmin babyCam in-vehicle video monitor (sold separately) to view backseat passengers on the navigation screen.

The Garmin Drive lineup includes the Drive 40 which retails for the recommend price of R1,999, the Drive 50 for R2,499 and the Drive 60 for R2,899.