A group of French travelers was fined 400,000 ISK for off-road driving in the Central Highlands in North East Iceland last week. The men were traveling on large dirt bikes. The area is part of the Central Highland Plateau north of Vatnajökull glacier, and is within Vatnajökull National Park.
Caught by Park Rangers
The men left deep tracks in the soft, clay-like volcanic sand and topsoil along Austurleið mountain track, road no. F910, from Mt Herðubreiðartögl south east in the direction of Mt Upptyppingar. The men drove at least 1.3 km (0.8 mi) along the road. Some of the tracks they left were right along the road as well as taking detours further from the road, crisscrossing the landscape. The deep tracks left by the men must be repaired by hand.
Park Rangers from Vatnajökull National Park discovered the tracks on Tuesday and were able to identify who was responsible. The rangers collected information on the offenders and recorded the destruction, handing the evidence over to the Police. The Park Rangers confronted the men, who confessed to their actions and agreed to turn themselves in to the Police. According to a statement from the Police in North East Iceland the men showed up at the Police station in Akureyri town on Thursday to give a statement and pay a fine for the violation.
Eac of the four drivers was fined 100,000 ISK for his part in the criminal off-road driving.
Third group of French off-roaders this summer
This is the third group of French travelers who is fined for off-road driving in the Central Highlands this summer. The two previous groups did not respond well to being caught and confronted on their outrageous and destructive behavior. What the offending off-road adventurers failed to understand is the severity of their offense, and the fact that Icelanders take off-road driving very seriously.
Read more: One of the French off-roaders unhappy about paying small fine for his destructive driving
We at Iceland Insider would like to remind our readers that ALL off road driving in Iceland is illegal, and that the greatest threat posed to Icelandic nature by tourism is off-road driving.
Due to the short and cold sub-Arctic summers the vegetation grows extremely slowly and is very fragile. In the Central Highlands moss, which in many places is the only vegetation, grows by as little as a few millimeters annually. Tracks left in the wet clay-like soil will also take decades to disappear, they can cause topsoil erosion and leave an ugly mark on the pristine landscape. The only way to repair damage caused by off-road driving is by hand.
Read more: Photos: Local 4×4 club does its best to repair damages caused by French off-roaders
A group of French travelers was fined 400,000 ISK for off-road driving in the Central Highlands in North East Iceland last week. The men were traveling on large dirt bikes. The area is part of the Central Highland Plateau north of Vatnajökull glacier, and is within Vatnajökull National Park.
Caught by Park Rangers
The men left deep tracks in the soft, clay-like volcanic sand and topsoil along Austurleið mountain track, road no. F910, from Mt Herðubreiðartögl south east in the direction of Mt Upptyppingar. The men drove at least 1.3 km (0.8 mi) along the road. Some of the tracks they left were right along the road as well as taking detours further from the road, crisscrossing the landscape. The deep tracks left by the men must be repaired by hand.
Park Rangers from Vatnajökull National Park discovered the tracks on Tuesday and were able to identify who was responsible. The rangers collected information on the offenders and recorded the destruction, handing the evidence over to the Police. The Park Rangers confronted the men, who confessed to their actions and agreed to turn themselves in to the Police. According to a statement from the Police in North East Iceland the men showed up at the Police station in Akureyri town on Thursday to give a statement and pay a fine for the violation.
Eac of the four drivers was fined 100,000 ISK for his part in the criminal off-road driving.
Third group of French off-roaders this summer
This is the third group of French travelers who is fined for off-road driving in the Central Highlands this summer. The two previous groups did not respond well to being caught and confronted on their outrageous and destructive behavior. What the offending off-road adventurers failed to understand is the severity of their offense, and the fact that Icelanders take off-road driving very seriously.
Read more: One of the French off-roaders unhappy about paying small fine for his destructive driving
We at Iceland Insider would like to remind our readers that ALL off road driving in Iceland is illegal, and that the greatest threat posed to Icelandic nature by tourism is off-road driving.
Due to the short and cold sub-Arctic summers the vegetation grows extremely slowly and is very fragile. In the Central Highlands moss, which in many places is the only vegetation, grows by as little as a few millimeters annually. Tracks left in the wet clay-like soil will also take decades to disappear, they can cause topsoil erosion and leave an ugly mark on the pristine landscape. The only way to repair damage caused by off-road driving is by hand.
Read more: Photos: Local 4×4 club does its best to repair damages caused by French off-roaders