I.D. Systems And Garmin Team To Provide New Airport Safety Solution: SafeNav(TM) Airport Vehicle Navigation System

HACKENSACK, N.J., May 17, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- I.D. Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:IDSY), a leading provider of wireless asset management technology, and Garmin International, Inc., a global leader in navigation and communication devices, have entered into a distribution agreement to bring an innovative new airport safety product to the aviation industry. The product—SafeNav™ Powered by Garmin™—is an on-vehicle, GPS-based navigation and alert system designed to provide airport vehicle operators with real-time situational awareness, with the goal of avoiding accidental runway incursions. Initial shipments of SafeNav™ are expected to commence in the second half of 2010.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has placed runway incursions on its "Most Wanted" list of transportation safety improvements every year since the list's inception in 1990. ¹ The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has similarly made "reduction in the number and severity of runway incursions" one of its top priorities. ² In an Advisory Circular, the FAA states:

The control of vehicular activity on the airside of an airport is of the highest importance. The airport operator is responsible for developing procedures, procuring equipment, and providing training regarding vehicle operations to ensure aircraft and personnel safety ³.

In the same document, the FAA attributes incidents involving aircraft and ground vehicles, in part, to inadequate visual aids and vehicle operator training, and encourages airport operators to "establish procedures and policies concerning vehicle access and vehicle operation on the airside of the airport". The FAA emphasizes that special consideration should be given to vehicle operations during low visibility conditions, such as rain, snow and fog, which may obscure airport markings and diminish vehicle operators' situational awareness.

SafeNav™ Powered by Garmin™ is designed to address precisely these concerns. The system enhances the situational awareness of airport vehicle operators—regardless of visibility and other external conditions—by providing an on-vehicle "moving map" of the vehicle's location on the airport. SafeNav™ incorporates:

• Built-in maps of over 950 U.S. airports, based on the reference airport diagrams used by aircraft equipped with Garmin's SafeTaxi® system
• Real-time tracking of vehicle location on the airport via a 4.3-inch, wide-format, touchscreen display
• Built-in geo-fencing algorithms to define airport runways
• Risk-weighted color coding on maps to alert vehicle operators visually to potential runway incursions
• Automatic audible alarming to alert vehicle operators aurally to potential runway incursions 

"SafeNav™ will not only assist experienced vehicle operators at night and during periods of low-visibility, it will serve as an important safety tool for new or transient vehicle operators who are unfamiliar with the airport's taxiways and runways," said Gary Kelley, Garmin's vice president of marketing.