Back in January 2016, Garmin announced that they were releasing a new range of “Garmin Drive GPS” devices. They claim that these new products are designed to provide motorists with additional features that will help make driving safer.
Let’s take a closer look at exactly what new features are available with these devices and see if it’s worth upgrading your current model. I have included a comparison table at the bottom of the page in order to make it easy to see the differences between the products.
Garmin Drive GPS
Driver Alerts
In my opinion, this is the biggest innovation with the Garmin Drive Series. Essentially what you get is a series of alerts that are designed to make your journey safer. What exactly does it do you may ask?
Well, you’ll be pre-warned of a sharp turn or an upcoming fork in the road. You will receive an alert when you are approaching a red light or when there is a traffic jam or accident up ahead.
Other features include audible warnings when the speed limit changes quickly or when there is a school zone up ahead. You will also be told off if you find your self driving the wrong way up a one-way road! So you see, the sat nav can now tell you off just like a traveling spouse could!
The driver alert that I am most impressed with however is the fatigue warning. Tiredness whilst driving kills. It’s a fact. These devices will warn you when you have been driving long distances without any decent driving breaks. I know myself that sometimes I need someone to tell me to pull over and grab a coffee. It is good to stop, relax, and just take your eyes off the road for a while when you have been driving long distances. If it takes a little machine to get people to pull over then I’m all for it!
Smart Connections
Designed so that the motorist may keep their hands on the wheel. You can activate the sat nav with your voice, make calls (once your phone is hooked up via Bluetooth) and read your text messages on a split-screen. I will be putting these features through their paces over the next couple of weeks
Camera Connections
These devices allow you to add a camera that will continually record or let you see what is behind you.
[wpsm_numbox num=”1″ style=”4″]The Garmin Dash Cam looks out straight ahead from the cockpit and continuously records your journey. If you were involved in an accident or an impact of any sort then the camera will automatically record the incident. A useful feature if you ever have to deal with insurance companies at any stage in the future.[/wpsm_numbox]
[wpsm_numbox num=”2″ style=”4″]The Garmin BC30 is a wireless camera that lets you see those pedestrians, kids on bikes etc that walk behind the car when your at the wheel. [/wpsm_numbox]
[wpsm_numbox num=”3″ style=”4″]The Garmin Baby Cam allows the driver to keep an eye on the kids in the back of the car without having to turn around.You can view the kids on the screen of your sat nav device, pretty handy particularly if you have more than one child back there![/wpsm_numbox]
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Very interesting and informative article on the new garmin product, Garmin is the gps most known for the best features. It is amazing how they can have this little machine do so much for us while driving, I was amazed when they basically just gave you the best directions as you drove to get where you were going. Now they are even telling you its time for a break from your driving, such a cool and beneficial idea.
Absolutely, it’s incredible to think what that little rectangle box sitting on your dashboard can do! These GPS devices are having to become more innovative in order to keep their share of the market – particularly given the rise in use of smartphones.
It would be a good idea if motor manufacturers in the future told drivers to pull in and take a break too. It might just save peoples lives on the road.