Foreign travelers, who pitched camp on the black sands of Skeiðarársandur in South East Iceland, learned the hard way that laws the law which bans off-road driving, applies to ALL off-road driving. Also on the black desert volcanic sands, sandar of South Iceland.
Read more: Desolate beauty of Skeiðarársandur, SE Iceland, marred by off-roading adveturers
All off-road driving is illegal
A local guide took a photo of the travelers rental van parked far out on the glacial outwash plain of Skeiðarársandur. (See the photos above). The people had left long tracks in the ground driving off-road from the Ring Road into the pristine wilderness. The photo appeared in a Facebook group used by local guides and people in the Icelandic tourism industry. Bogi Jónsson, the owner of the rental car company, Camping Cars, saw the photo, recognizing one of his vehicles.
Bogi told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that he immediately saw that the off-road driving was a clear violation of the rental contract, and instructions given by the staff of the rental car company that off-road driving was illegal. He told RÚV that he takes responsible travel and the protection of Icelandic nature extremely seriously, spending significant time and effort to educate his customers on what is allowed and what is not allowed when traveling in Iceland.
He contacted the people, informing them he was forced to report the incidence to the Police. They would also likely be forced to cut their trip short to report to the police station to give a report and pay a fine. Bogi told RÚV that the people had not reacted well, to hearing the news.
Reminder: ALL off-road driving is illegal in Iceland. There are no exceptions to this rule. Camping in camper vans or RVs is only allowed on designated camping spots. There is a zero tolerance policy on this law as several travelers have already experienced this summer.
Read more: One of the French off-roaders unhappy about paying small fine for his destructive driving
Read more: Photos: Local 4×4 club does its best to repair damages caused by French off-roaders
Foreign travelers, who pitched camp on the black sands of Skeiðarársandur in South East Iceland, learned the hard way that laws the law which bans off-road driving, applies to ALL off-road driving. Also on the black desert volcanic sands, sandar of South Iceland.
Read more: Desolate beauty of Skeiðarársandur, SE Iceland, marred by off-roading adveturers
All off-road driving is illegal
A local guide took a photo of the travelers rental van parked far out on the glacial outwash plain of Skeiðarársandur. (See the photos above). The people had left long tracks in the ground driving off-road from the Ring Road into the pristine wilderness. The photo appeared in a Facebook group used by local guides and people in the Icelandic tourism industry. Bogi Jónsson, the owner of the rental car company, Camping Cars, saw the photo, recognizing one of his vehicles.
Bogi told the National Broadcasting Service RÚV that he immediately saw that the off-road driving was a clear violation of the rental contract, and instructions given by the staff of the rental car company that off-road driving was illegal. He told RÚV that he takes responsible travel and the protection of Icelandic nature extremely seriously, spending significant time and effort to educate his customers on what is allowed and what is not allowed when traveling in Iceland.
He contacted the people, informing them he was forced to report the incidence to the Police. They would also likely be forced to cut their trip short to report to the police station to give a report and pay a fine. Bogi told RÚV that the people had not reacted well, to hearing the news.
Reminder: ALL off-road driving is illegal in Iceland. There are no exceptions to this rule. Camping in camper vans or RVs is only allowed on designated camping spots. There is a zero tolerance policy on this law as several travelers have already experienced this summer.
Read more: One of the French off-roaders unhappy about paying small fine for his destructive driving
Read more: Photos: Local 4×4 club does its best to repair damages caused by French off-roaders
