2018 ICELAND Reykjavik 5 - Rules of the Road

As we began our drive east out of town, this was one of the first safety warnings we saw. Hard to tell from this pix, but these cars looked like ours and had been in head-on crashes. Billboards on each side begged the notion of safe driving and listed numbers of deaths on the highway. I don't remember the number, but we did not want to increase it.

OK, let's talk about the roads. In the capitol there are a few main thoroughfares up to three lanes wide each way. There are a number of round-a-bouts and some interesting tri-color stoplights. Not only is there a momentary yellow just before red, but also a momentary yellow just before green. So instead of seeing cars continuing on "pink," you'd see cars slightly jumping the green.

In town, side streets were narrow and many were one way. We didn't see any concrete pavement anywhere, mostly basalt stone pavers or asphalt. Street names are often long and unpronounceable to us. One of the main streets was Snorribraut. Remember the saga author? And braut means "runway." My sis had a great time converting street names to goofy English translations. Maybe she'll add an example here later. How to figure street names:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_names_in_Iceland.

Most of our travels were on the Ring Road or Route 1 (the yellow line on this map). It was completed in 1974. We traveled from Reykjavik almost to Hofn, about one-third around the island and backtracked from there. On most of this road trip we could not see the sea or it was way off in the distance. Vik was an exception.

For safety's sake we opted not to continue the Ring Road north into less populated areas. Winter is considered October through April. Weather is particularly unpredictable during that time and often dangerous. Roads can be closed. Expect the unexpected and be flexible are some of the travel tips we read. We had limited travel time, so not so flexible.

I tried to find out how they remove snow and it appears there is a complicated formula of depth, road usage, etc. If I read the chart correctly, it could take up to three days to clean heavy snow in more remote areas of the Ring Road. They use plowing, sand, de-icing chemicals and, more rarely, salt. If you want to torture yourself, you can read all about it here:  http://www.road.is/media/um-vegagerdina/Iceland_Snow-and-Ice-Databook-2013-v01.pdf.

Once out of the city, it was two-lane road all the way. This was our first road view in the countryside along the Ring Road.

Most of the drive was on flat land, but there were some passing lanes on steeper areas. The widest shoulder we encountered was about 12 inches. In other places the shoulder did not exist outside of the dotted white lines. Or the center line was non-existent. Crossing paths with some of the luxury liner tourist buses was near heart-stopping. Thank goodness we had sunshine and dry roads most days.

There were guard rails in some areas but that was not the norm, even on the steeper climbs. Sometimes there were 10-20 foot drop offs with no guard rail protection. For the most part, the only warning of the side of the road was the yellow reflectors. You definitely have to be alert while driving here.

Speed limits ranged from 50 kph (about 31) in the city up to 90 (about 56) on most of the Ring Road. And, honestly, that was fast enough for me. We discovered near the end of the trip, that the speedometer was reading maybe five miles per hour faster than what we were actually driving. We wondered why so many folks passed us and compared the GPS speed to the speedometer speed. We adjusted a little after that.

Besides speed signs there are all kinds of interesting signs. We could figure out most, but looked up online what some of the more obscure signs indicate. Move to bottom to see all the interesting ones in blue. https://www.arctic.is/traffic-signs/

Oh and here is one you probably have not seen before. It was in a public restroom.

Every so often along the road we would also see what looked like a weather station or earthquake monitoring system. It turned out they were weather stations with a webcams up top to monitor road conditions in real time.

Bridges outside of towns and villages were all one-way. So you approached gingerly to see who got there first and then waited for the opposite vehicle to pass by, if necessary. We came across only one construction area and that was a bridge improvement.

It is illegal and there is no tolerance for drunk driving. Max blood alcohol level is .05%. If you are under suspicion you get a breathalyzer test. If positive, you get a blood test which you cannot refuse and can be taken forcefully. Heavy fines or imprisonment can follow. Minimum first offense is 70,000 ISK.

If marijuana is your thing...possession, cultivation, and sale are heavily penalized. Bringing it into the country can get you a month in jail. Although, we did meet an American visitor who said he used an MJ vape kit and pulled it out of his inside pocket for a moment to show us. Medicinal MJ is allowed on a VERY limited basis.

Other laws:  Everyone must wear a seat belt at all times. No talking on cell phones, unless hands-free. Headlights should be on at all times.

Insurance clauses say no off-road driving, even with all the insurances. But parking lots and driveways outside of town are pretty much crushed rock. We did have one hard stone hit the windshield while driving. It seemed to make a little mark, but we passed mustard during the car return and did not have to pay any deductible.