Five foreign tourists were arrested yesterday and are currently imprisoned in Þórlákshöfn after their two rental cars flipped off a highway close by the town, reports Vísir.
Nobody was seriously injured, but the police arrested the quintet as no one wanted to admit to having driven either of the rental cars. It is not thought that the two accidents are related.
Increasing number of tourist accidents
It should come as no surprise that as the number of tourists has increased so has the rate of accidents, and according to figures from Vegagerðin, the Icelandic Road and Costal Administration, car accidents involving tourists spiked in 2015–with the number going from around 125 to over 200 compared to the previous year.
Number of car accidents involving tourists, categorised by injuries. Vegagerðin
There is also a big differences between nationalities in regards to how safe drivers they are. The safest drivers, comparatively speaking, are Americans and Brits–despite the latter driving on the wrong side of the road. The worst offenders, however, are tourists from Italy, Spain and China.
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