Technology is a significant part of everyday life, and it has become important in ensuring driver safety. These clever technologies are designed to help you stay safe on the road.
GPS gadgets
While you can use your GPS-enabled smartphone to guide you around, a more advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) offers a number of other useful features for safety and convenience. Most models include audible driving directions with text-to-speech, spoken street names, internet connectivity for research purposes and large screens for easy visibility.
Additional features of a great GPS include alerts if you go over the speed limit, real-time traffic updates, cameras for video calls and in-built dash cams. Harvey Norman has a large range of GPS gadgets, ranging in price from $84 to $499.
Dashcams
Rapidly growing in popularity, dashcams are a valuable tool for any safe driver. A good dashcam can protect you in the case of an accident, since it provides evidence for insurance purposes. It can also report drunken or dangerous drivers.Some dashcams also come with a parking mode, offering extra protection for your parked vehicle when you’re not there. In a situation where your car is bumped, the dash cam will automatically switch on and begin recording. Prices can range from as little as $8.95 to more than $400 for advanced models. Check them out at www.dashcamsaustralia.com.au
Samsung truck
Samsung has unveiled an innovative truck designed to help keep drivers safe on the road. The ‘transparent’ Safety Truck includes a screen inbuilt into its back doors to which live footage of the road is fed through by a front-facing camera. The result is that drivers following the over-sized vehicle can see what’s ahead, and the risk of accidents caused by sudden braking or crossing animals is reduced. Another feature of the truck is that the camera includes night-vision capabilities. Find out more at news.com.au.
Safe-driver apps
Safe-driver apps offer a number of features, including diverting all calls to text while you’re driving, parking timer reminders and feedback on your driving. One safe-driver app from insurance company AAMIuses GPS technology to record your journey and analyse your driving behaviour. After you have completed 10 drives and over 300 kilometres, the appgives you a driving score and offers feedback on your performance, based on length of trips, speed, acceleration, braking, fatigue and phone use. You can download the app for free whether or not you’re an AAMI customer.
