The favorite rental car among tourists is back in action––the Dacia Duster. Police in the Capital Area found that in recent weeks, the number of Dacia Duster’s and other rental cars on the streets have increased significantly, reports Vísir.
“Clumsy mistakes”
However, Guðbrandur Sigurðsson, assistant chief of police at the traffic department, explains that he does not believe that tourists are necessarily worse drivers than locals. He found that “they are usually cautious because they are unfamiliar with the situation, but they sometimes make clumsy mistakes.” He points out that a significant portion of these tourists are coming from big cities with elaborate public transportation systems. This only steepens the learning curve, as they are figuring out the traffic rules of Iceland.
Caution, foreigners inbound
While police have noticed that more rental cars are on the streets, it has not become clear whether the increasing number of traffic accidents is a result of the newly arriving tourists. Among those most likely to be injured in a traffic-related accident are the Chinese, Italians, and Spaniards, according to a report from the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration. To combat this, the Icelandic Transportation Authority has worked to provide educational material for tourists in recent years.
Seventeen planes landed at Keflavik airport today, the largest influx of arrivals since before the pandemic began. To new arrivals: be careful and aware as you pick up your rental car and hit the streets of Reykjavík.
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