Winter Driving For Dummies

The Útlendingur’s ongoing guide to getting shit done

This winter is wintering hard. In fact, I’m typing this article as an orange weather warning morphs into a red weather warning and the Icelandic Met Office promises violent storms will stretch across the country for the next 12 to 24 hours. Yay. Obviously, when there is a severe weather warning in effect, staying off the roads is the best course of action. But what about all those other days when the weather isn’t severe per se, but it’s still snowy, slippery and downright sloppy?

We totally get that sometimes you have to get from point A to B, or you may be hell bent on that roadtrip, regardless of the forecast, but before you hop in your car and speed toward adventure (or the good Krónan that you can’t just walk to), it’s prudent to go over some tips for avoiding having to call on ICE-SAR.

Know what you’re up against

Driving in Icelandic winter is not always a leisurely Sunday drive. The roads can be icy, the wind can be brutal and snowstorms can appear out of nowhere. Roads, whether its Route One or Miklabraut, can turn into treacherous sheets of ice with visibility near zero. And we all know Reykjavík is lackadaisical about snow clearance, so residential streets aren’t always smooth sailing either.

Knowing the conditions isn’t a mission of trial and error. There’s this new fangled thing called the internet these days where you can check on road and weather conditions. Wild, I know.

The Icelandic Met Office (vedur.is) and the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (road.is) are your best friends. They provide real-time updates on road closures, icy conditions and whether a storm is about to turn your scenic drive into a survival situation.

And if either of these sites tells you it’s a bad idea to drive? Take that advice seriously. Seriously.

Be smart, be slow

If you’re rocking a Yaris, you’re not going too far when the snow has been piling up for days on end. Think local. If you have to drive your Yaris to work and you find it chassis-deep in snow, think traction. Sitting in the driver’s seat and slamming the gas pedal is only going to spin your wheels and create a slick surface of compressed snow and ice under your tires. Instead, think of your car like a sexy lifeguard running down the beach in the opening credits of Baywatch — go slow.

Slowly crawling forward, intermittently removing your foot from the gas to create a forward and back rocking motion, will be a more successful approach than trying to gun it — really all that will achieve is making that tell-tale squeal to alert everyone in your neighbourhood that some poor sucker is stuck again.

You may have to go home for a shovel to clear a path through the tallest drifts. You may even have to *gulp* talk to your neighbours and ask for a push.

Do as the Icelanders don’t

Think back to driving you’ve done in the past couple of months. Any time the speed limit surpasses 60 km/hr, the conditions are suddenly white-out. It’s not snowing, it’s all the assholes who don’t bother to clear the snow off their car before hitting the road.

Look, driving is entering a social contract. We all get behind the wheel with the understanding that everyone else is out there on the road with each other’s safety front of mind. Much like turning on your headlights at night, signalling when changing lanes, and checking blind spots, clearing snow from your windows and the roof of your car should be a given. Not doing so is to announce that you don’t give a shit about the safety of anybody else on the road — their safety is superseded by your laziness.

That’s just not cool. Clear the snow off your fucking car.

Oh, and since we’re talking about doing things that don’t seem to come naturally to Icelanders, learn how to turn on your headlights (daytime running lights don’t count) and use a turn signal. We can be better than them, fellow Útlendingar, it is within our reach.

Respect the winter

Iceland in winter is breathtaking, what with those northern lights and ice caves and whatnot, but it demands respect. Treat driving here like an extreme sport — because it kind of is. Plan ahead, drive cautiously and don’t let the thrill of adventure turn into a disaster. Be smart.

Follow the Grapevine’s Do Shit series to collect tips and tricks for navigating life and bureaucracy in Iceland