An increasingly popular destination for American travelers, driving through Iceland is an incredibly magical experience, with waterfalls, glaciers, and stunning terrain nearly everywhere you look. Highways are pothole-free and accident rates are low, making the country the safest in the world in a report released Tuesday by an insurance company, but the roads can pose a danger to unsuspecting tourists. There is sex.
Iceland’s two-lane, 820-mile Ring Road (Route 1) circumnavigates the country and is the main road used to access popular tourist destinations. The beltway has no shoulders or guardrails, and much of the highway is elevated, so vehicles that veer off the road can overturn.
Many tourists heading to the Icelandic countryside take the southern road from Reykjavik. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Rental car dealership websites are full of useful safety tips, but after checking the websites of various rental car companies, I can’t find anything that warns about shoulders, lack of guardrails, or elevated driveways. did.
According to the Icelandic Transport Authority, 13 people have died in road accidents so far this year. This is the highest number since all of 2018, when 15 people were killed, reports the English-language magazine Reykjavík Grapevine.
The transport authority’s website has more detailed statistics for the first five months of this year. During this period, 62 people suffered serious injuries and 460 suffered minor injuries in car accidents. Over the five-month period, there were 7 fatal accidents, 46 serious accidents, 296 minor accidents, and 2,920 accidents with no injuries.
Some accidents reported this year:
*On September 24th, a car overturned in Skagi, northwestern Iceland. According to news and information website Iceland Monitor, the driver died and the passenger was taken to hospital by ambulance.
*On August 12, a website reported that the ring road was temporarily closed near the Gigjukvisl river after two cars collided, injuring four people, an American and a Spanish tourist.
*According to the Iceland Monitor, on May 25, a bus overturned on the Langarvällävegur road near Stokkarekur, injuring 27 people, including some seriously.
*On January 12, two foreign tourists were killed and six others were airlifted to hospital after two cars collided head-on on the ring road near Vatnajökull National Park, reports the Reykjavík Grapevine. Reported.
The ring road, the busiest in all of Iceland, has no shoulders or guardrails and has many elevated sections. (Photo courtesy of Athanasios Gioumpasis/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Iceland and the other Nordic countries “are among the best performing countries in Europe and the world in terms of per capita road deaths,” the Icelandic Transport Authority said. “Although these countries have seen a steady decline in deaths over the past decade, the numbers in Iceland and the Faroe Islands are too low to indicate a trend.”
A report by the International Transport Forum, part of the Intergovernmental Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, said Iceland had “consistently improved its road safety performance in recent years”. “However, from 2015 to 2018, a large number of fatal traffic accidents occurred, partly due to the increase in the number of foreign tourists driving rental cars.”
According to the forum’s report, many crashes occur along the ring road, which passes through many sparsely populated areas. Roads can be exposed to adverse weather conditions such as snow, extreme cold, high winds, and rain. Additionally, in some areas, wooden or steel single-lane bridges, blind curves, and gravel surfaces may be difficult for travelers to navigate. could lead to an even more dangerous situation.”
The Icelandic Search and Rescue Association provides safety advice.
“The situation in Iceland may be different from what you are used to,” the association warns. “Beautiful scenery can distract drivers from the road, or sheep can jump onto the road in front of the car. To reach your destination safely, you need to give your full attention to driving. I have to.”
The association says it may not be a good idea to drive after arriving in Iceland after a long flight, often early in the morning.
Holdur Car Rental, Iceland’s Europcar franchise, advises rental car users on its website that “Driving in Iceland is more difficult than in other countries, as we experience a variety of weather conditions at all times of the year.” “It can be difficult,” he warns. Dense fog, snow and strong winds “may pose further challenges,” the car rental company says.
Hertz’s website warns renters that Iceland’s weather can change quickly, even in the summer. “Don’t be surprised if you experience four seasons in one day. You’ll start out with gorgeous weather and bright sunshine, and then suddenly, without warning, it starts to rain or snow,” the website says. It’s dark.
