Biking without sufficient reflectors or handbrakes, and attaching a sidecar to the left side of a bike, will bring higher fines for cyclists in Iceland, according to new regulations recently approved by the Ministry of Transportation. The fines for these offenses have now quadrupled.
Coming on the heels of recent news that the fine for driving while using a phone will go from 5,000 ISK to 40,000 ISK on May 1, a new set of regulations for cyclists both increase fines for existing offenses and add new ones.
One addition to the law has made it illegal for cyclists to run a red light. While the language of the bill does not state whether this refers to a traffic light or a crosswalk, MBL speculates that the language is broad enough to include both.
Further, cycling without a light or reflectors will bring with it a fine of 20,000 ISK, up from 5,000 under previous versions of these regulations. However, there is also vague wording in the regulations where a cyclist can also be fined for “other things” wrong with their bike, also for 20,000 ISK.
It is also illegal to attach a bicycle sidecar to the left side of the bicycle; it must be attached to the right, to avoid putting the sidecar in peril as it faces oncoming traffic. Violating this regulation also brings with it a 20,000 ISK fine.
The final implementation of these new regulations has yet to be determined.
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