Yesterday we covered the story of six French travelers who caused serious and irreparable damage on Sunday. The group, which was driving three SUVs along Austurleið highland route made the bad decision of driving off-road when they discovered that the crossing over Þríhyrningsá river was blocked by a stalled vehicle in the middle of the river. The group left a trail of destruction in their wake, and deep tracks in the soft ground, but were caught by the Central Highland Police patrol.
Read more: Group of French travelers cause irreparable damage in Central Highlands with off-road driving
The travelers were on their way to Kverkfjöll mountain range and Askja in the Central Highlands north of Vatnajökull glacier, but were forced to cut this adventure short. The group was summoned to the police station in Egilsstaðir town in East Iceland on Monday morning to give a statement and pay a fine for their actions. Each of the three drivers was fined 100,000 ISK (920 USD/810 EUR). The travelers got off pretty lightly, as the minimum fine for off-road driving is 50,000 ISK (460 USD/400 EUR), but can be as high as 500,000 ISK (4,500 USD /4,000 EUR). A second group of French travelers driving two SUVs, who were involved in a separate case of destructive off-road driving in the Central Highlands earlier this summer were fined 200,000 ISK (1,840 USD/1,620 EUR) each.
Many have called for stiffer penalties for off-road driving, arguing that the fines have to have a bite to serve as a real deterrent: Damage caused by off-road driving takes decades to disappear. The tracks left by the French travelers in the Central Highlands will still be there generations from now.
Ignorance is no excuse
The local newspaper Morgunblaðið reports that while two of the three drivers paid the fine without a question, a third was unhappy, arguing that his ignorance should be a mitigating factor. A Sergeant with the Police in East Iceland told Morgunblaðið that the man claimed he had not known that off-road driving is illegal in Iceland, and that he should therefore not have to pay a fine for breaking this particular law.
The officers explained to the man that in the future he should familiarize himself with the laws and customs of foreign and unfamiliar places before embarking on travel.
Editorial note: Off-road driving is one of the topics we at Iceland Insider have covered. Not because we are somehow biased against foreign travelers (unfortunately most of the cases of off-road driving involve foreign travelers), but because off-road driving is one of the most serious threats tourism poses to Icelandic nature. We would also like to stress we have absolutely nothing against French travelers and we are in no way singling out French travelers. It just so happens that the offenders in two of the most high-profile destructive off-road cases of this summer were French.
We have frequently seen readers assume in discussions on our Facebook page that American travelers are responsible for all bad tourist behavior. These stories should remind us that there are bad apples and ignorant people all over the world. The overwhelming majority of tourists, whether they are American, French, German, British, Chinese or Scandinavian, are respectful and wonderful guests!
Yesterday we covered the story of six French travelers who caused serious and irreparable damage on Sunday. The group, which was driving three SUVs along Austurleið highland route made the bad decision of driving off-road when they discovered that the crossing over Þríhyrningsá river was blocked by a stalled vehicle in the middle of the river. The group left a trail of destruction in their wake, and deep tracks in the soft ground, but were caught by the Central Highland Police patrol.
Read more: Group of French travelers cause irreparable damage in Central Highlands with off-road driving
The travelers were on their way to Kverkfjöll mountain range and Askja in the Central Highlands north of Vatnajökull glacier, but were forced to cut this adventure short. The group was summoned to the police station in Egilsstaðir town in East Iceland on Monday morning to give a statement and pay a fine for their actions. Each of the three drivers was fined 100,000 ISK (920 USD/810 EUR). The travelers got off pretty lightly, as the minimum fine for off-road driving is 50,000 ISK (460 USD/400 EUR), but can be as high as 500,000 ISK (4,500 USD /4,000 EUR). A second group of French travelers driving two SUVs, who were involved in a separate case of destructive off-road driving in the Central Highlands earlier this summer were fined 200,000 ISK (1,840 USD/1,620 EUR) each.
Many have called for stiffer penalties for off-road driving, arguing that the fines have to have a bite to serve as a real deterrent: Damage caused by off-road driving takes decades to disappear. The tracks left by the French travelers in the Central Highlands will still be there generations from now.
Ignorance is no excuse
The local newspaper Morgunblaðið reports that while two of the three drivers paid the fine without a question, a third was unhappy, arguing that his ignorance should be a mitigating factor. A Sergeant with the Police in East Iceland told Morgunblaðið that the man claimed he had not known that off-road driving is illegal in Iceland, and that he should therefore not have to pay a fine for breaking this particular law.
The officers explained to the man that in the future he should familiarize himself with the laws and customs of foreign and unfamiliar places before embarking on travel.
Editorial note: Off-road driving is one of the topics we at Iceland Insider have covered. Not because we are somehow biased against foreign travelers (unfortunately most of the cases of off-road driving involve foreign travelers), but because off-road driving is one of the most serious threats tourism poses to Icelandic nature. We would also like to stress we have absolutely nothing against French travelers and we are in no way singling out French travelers. It just so happens that the offenders in two of the most high-profile destructive off-road cases of this summer were French.
We have frequently seen readers assume in discussions on our Facebook page that American travelers are responsible for all bad tourist behavior. These stories should remind us that there are bad apples and ignorant people all over the world. The overwhelming majority of tourists, whether they are American, French, German, British, Chinese or Scandinavian, are respectful and wonderful guests!
