This is one for the cyclists out there. The Garmin Varia RTL510 radar tail light is now available for preorders here. There are two features that are important here, especially in local circumstances. Firstly, it provides a highly visible tail light, so much so that Garmin believes it’s visible in daylight up to 1.6 km away.

Secondly, there’s a radar built into the Varia, which connects to your Garmin Edge device (apparently some others radar display units will work too). Why is this important? It picks up the cars approaching you from the back, and as they come closer, your Edge device will show the car on its screen, providing its relative distance to the bike. An amber light flashes when you need to be cautious, while a red light notes if the car is approaching at high speed. As far as distance is concerned, the RTL510 will pick up cars up to 140 m away.

With a battery life of up to 15 hours in flashing mode or six hours in solid or night flash mode, you might want to invest in some added rechargeable batteries. The Garmin Varia RTL510 radar tail will not fall into everyone’s budget, coming in at R3 199. Pre-orders can be done right here.

Still not quite convinced why the RTL510 is better than a simple handle bar mirror? Check out DC Rainmaker’s review below.