A group of foreign travelers who got their cars stuck while off-road driving in the Central Highlands on Sunday have agreed to pay 400,000 ISK (3,800 USD/3,200 EUR) in fines. the men, who were identified as French nationals by police, also promised not to engage in criminal off-road driving in the future.
According to a statement from the Police in South Iceland the men arrived at the station in Selfoss early morning to give a statement, and agreed to pay the fine. The men had ventured onto a closed road near the mountain Loðmundur, driving past signs which clearly stated the road was impassable and closed to all traffic.
After driving for a while they discovered that the signs had been put up for a reason, and the road was in fact impassable. A snowbank on the road threatened to block their way. Rather than try to cross the snowbank – or turn around, as any sensible person would have done – the men tried to drive around the obstacle by driving across the wet and muddy ground. After ploughing through the extremely muddy terrain for a while they got stuck and called for help.
The police chief superintendent in South Iceland told the local news site Vísir that the men were clearly ashamed of their actions, and that they had not realized how wet and muddy the ground was. They also promised not to engage in any further off-road driving.
A group of foreign travelers who got their cars stuck while off-road driving in the Central Highlands on Sunday have agreed to pay 400,000 ISK (3,800 USD/3,200 EUR) in fines. the men, who were identified as French nationals by police, also promised not to engage in criminal off-road driving in the future.
According to a statement from the Police in South Iceland the men arrived at the station in Selfoss early morning to give a statement, and agreed to pay the fine. The men had ventured onto a closed road near the mountain Loðmundur, driving past signs which clearly stated the road was impassable and closed to all traffic.
After driving for a while they discovered that the signs had been put up for a reason, and the road was in fact impassable. A snowbank on the road threatened to block their way. Rather than try to cross the snowbank – or turn around, as any sensible person would have done – the men tried to drive around the obstacle by driving across the wet and muddy ground. After ploughing through the extremely muddy terrain for a while they got stuck and called for help.
The police chief superintendent in South Iceland told the local news site Vísir that the men were clearly ashamed of their actions, and that they had not realized how wet and muddy the ground was. They also promised not to engage in any further off-road driving.
