South African drivers face an extraordinary range of hazards on the country’s roads – from dangerous fellow drivers and roads in disrepair, through to hijackings and smash-and-grab incidents. Most of the risks can be reduced if one knows which routes to stay away from and where one needs to drive especially cautiously.
Imagine, then, having a little angel in your car who helps you to find the quickest route to your destination by giving you reliable directions every step of the way, and also alerts you to take special care when you’re passing through a hazardous part of the road network.
“The Road Angel GPS solution has made this idea a compelling reality. Road Angel is a personal navigation device that alerts drivers to potential hazards such as schools, areas where there is a high-risk of traffic accidents, smash-and-grab and hijacking hotspots, and fixed and mobile camera speed trap zones,” says Kevin Van Husysteen, CEO of road navigation solutions company, Road Vigil Pty Ltd.
“This information heightens the driver’s awareness of the dangers he or she faces on the way to his or her destination. The Road Angel PND comes pre-loaded with more than 2600 proven fixed and mobile speed camera warnings, 110 high accident zone warnings and 250 smash & grab and hijack hotspot zone warnings,” says Van Huysteen. Road Angel can store up to 50,000 hazard locations and allows you to add your own road hazard data if you want to.
“The Road Angel system helps to improve road safety simply by giving you audible and visual alerts as you approach hazardous parts of the road. This allows you to adjust your behaviour and to keep your eyes open for danger. Road Angel alerts drivers to stay within the speed limits by warning them of the upcoming speed enforcement locations,” he adds.
Another powerful safety feature that Road Angel provides is its ability to give a precise reading of the car’s exact location that can be given to emergency services so that they can find the vehicle quickly in the event of an accident or breakdown.
Users download the latest hazard data using the Internet by simply connecting the GPS device to the USB port of a PC and synchronising it with the Road Angel database. The database is frequently updated from a number of sources, including traffic authorities and end-user’s custom-defined locations. The accuracy of information from end-users is verified before it is added to the database.
More than 300,000 people around the world depend on Road Angel to guide them safely and reliably to their destinations. Apart from a wealth of road safety information, Road Angel offers road maps from Navteq that cover over 555 303 kms in Southern Africa.
Road Angel has been endorsed by more motor manufacturers in South Africa than any other GPS brand, with approvals from Renault, General Motors, Citroen, VWSA, Audi, Kia Motors, Chana and Nissan SA. Many local and provincial safety and traffic authorities have also welcomed Road Angel as a way of helping to improve road safety and provide much of the camera and accident data used in the system.
