Showing posts with label speed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label speed. Show all posts

Green Driving Tips in Iceland

You CAN make a difference! 

As stated in our environmental platform, one of our objectives is to reduce emissions from the company´s car fleet. With regular maintaining and service, we keep our vehicles operating at peak efficiency. By following the „green“ driving tips below, you can improve your fuel economy and help us to reduce the negative environmental influence and create a greener future.

Plan routes and consolidate your trips: 

Whether going for a longer vacation or a quick trip, plan out your routes in advance to avoid heavy traffic periods and areas. If rush hour or road construction leads to traffic jams and stop-and-go driving, sometimes, the longer route can consume less fuel than a shorter one. So plan your routes to enable you to bypass congested routes and lead to fewer start-ups and less stop-and-go driving. Try to combine several short trips into one to save fuel and cut down on pollution. Warmed-up engines produce lower emissions.


Lighten your load and reduce drag: 

The more weight a car carries, the lower its fuel economy will be. Only pack what you need for vacations (including emergency items), and remove items that are not needed. Remove unneeded roof boxes, trailers and other items from your vehicle that cause wind resistance. These simple steps can cut significant weight and reduce drag, enabling your car to use less fuel.

Avoid quick starts, reduce your speed and keep the RPMs down: 

A smooth, steady speed improves your fuel economy, saves gasoline and reduces wear and tear on the engine, tires, transmission and brakes. As speed increases, so does drag. So, driving at higher speeds will reduce your fuel economy. Avoid quick starts. Putting the pedal to the metal when the stoplight turns green, increases your vehicle’s RPM level and lowers your fuel efficiency. Staying at or a bit below the speed limit and watching your RPMs can have a big impact on the environment and can lower your fuel cost. For every 15 km per hour you reduce speed, you can improve your fuel economy by 10 – 15%.


Think ahead in traffic: 

Try to anticipate stops and let your vehicle coast down as much as possible. Avoid the increased pollution, wasted gas and wear on your brakes created by accelerating hard and braking hard. Be smart as you navigate your way through traffic. Create space from the car in front of you and look ahead for any potential.

Keep a recommended air pressure in your tires: 

Maintaining recommended tire pressure can improve fuel economy as much as 6 percent. Over time, tires lose air pressure and as the air pressure decreases, rolling resistance increases and that makes your vehicle less fuel efficient. Recommended air pressure for your tires is shown in your vehicle’s owner’s manual.

Peter
Iceland24
May 2015

Tourist Caught Speeding - Speed tickets in Iceland

A tourist was caught speeding 60 kilometers over the limit along Reykjanesbraut, the road to Keflavík International Airport, earlier this week.

Speed tickets in Iceland

The speed limit in the area, and the maximum speed limit in Iceland, is 90 km/hr (55 mph) but the man was driving 150 km/hr (95 mph).

A total of 11 people were caught speeding in the Suðurnes region where Keflavík Airport is located this week, visir.is reports.

Speed tickets in Iceland

The police in Selfoss also stopped a tourist on the mountain pass Hellisheiði, between Reykjavík and Hveragerði, for speeding 168 km/h (105 miles/h) in a 90 km/h zone last monday. The speed limit outside of urban areas in Iceland is generally 90km/h (55miles/h).

The driver was issued a ISK 112,000 (USD 1000, EUR 770) on-the-spot fine. The man will also be banned from driving for three months.

Speed tickets in Iceland

There have been several cases of tourists being booked for driving much faster than the speed limit in recent months.

Speed limits and tickets in Iceland

The general rule is that 90 km/hour is the maximum speed you can drive at outside of towns and villages in Iceland in perfect circumstances on tarmac and without a carriage. On unpaved roads the speed limit is 80 km/hour Nowhere in Iceland are you allowed to drive faster than that. Somewhere the speed limit can be lower if the circumstances call for it such as steep mountain roads or sharp turns. There are usually plenty of signs that tell you the maximum speed so not knowing is really not an excuse.

The table below tells you how the speeding ticket system in Iceland is built up. The yellow line represent the speed limit on any given road and the pink line represent the actual speed the driver is caught driving at. The numbers in the other boxes represent the fine in thousands (ISK) + the months the license is suspended. We don’t know if the Icelandic police has jurisdiction to suspend foreign licenses but they can and will give out tickets.

Speed tickets in Iceland

How do you get a ticket?

As you may have noticed if you have driven around Iceland there are not a lot of police around. There are plenty of speed cameras though and even thought there are big signs that tell you that they are there, somehow people don’t slow down and end up getting a ticket.

Also, even though there are not a lot of police around they do lurk around and show up when you least expect it. Certain counties are notorious for very efficient speed control and the police knows exactly where to hide so you won’t figure out they are there until it’s too late.

We’ve also heard, and we don’t know if this is true or not, that they just love to bust tourists in rental cars.

Speed tickets in Iceland

But nobody told me I got a ticket when I dropped off my rental car, that must mean I’m in the clear, right?

Wrong. It always takes the authorities some time to process the ticket and then it takes the car rental agency time to put two and two together and figure out who was driving the car when the ticket was issued. What’s more, some car rental agencies will charge you a processing charge on top of the actual ticket.

Speed tickets in Iceland

Soure: Icelandreview
Iceland24, October 2014

Drive Safely in Iceland

Drivers should take care at this time of year, roads can be icy, even around Reykjavík area. All highland roads are now closed due to snow.

Drive Safely in Iceland

Search and rescue teams picked up tourists in two rental cars stuck in snow yesterday. Two women were stuck at Uxahryggjaleið road, West Iceland, in a small car. The road (number 52) is a mountain road from Þingvellir National Park to Borgarfjörður and is currently closed. Even during the summer, a 4x4 vehicle is recommended.

The second incident occurred on road 435, from Reykjavík to Lake Þingvallavatn, when two men got stuck in snow in a small SUV. After repeated attempts at freeing the car, the vehicle was left undrivable, visir.is reports.

Drive Safely in Iceland

Before heading out on a road trip in Iceland visit www.vegag.is for up to date road conditions and vedur.is for weather.

Driving in Iceland

Most mountain roads and roads in the interior of Iceland have a gravel surface. The surface on the gravel roads is often loose, especially along the sides of the roads, so one should drive carefully and slow down whenever approaching an oncoming car. The mountain roads are also often very narrow, and are not made for speeding.

Drive Safely in Iceland

The same goes for many bridges, which are only wide enough for one car at a time. In addition to not having an asphalt surface, the mountain roads are often very windy. Journeys may therefore take longer than expected.

For information on road conditions, Tel.: +354-1777, daily 8:00-16:00. www.road.is

The total length of the Ring Road around Iceland (national highway) is 1.339 km. The general speed limit is 50 km/h in urban areas, 80 km/h on gravel roads in rural areas, and 90 km/h on asphalt roads.

We recommend you read:

Car Rental in Iceland
Camper Rental in Iceland
Speed Tickets in Iceland

Peter, Iceland24
November 2013

New CD from Emiliana Torrini

'Tookah' is Torrini's fourth album, her first since the acclaimed 'Me And Armini' in 2008.


The album sees Emiliana back in the studio with her long term producer / collaborator Dan Carey. This pedigree pairing of Emiliana’s songwriting and Carey’s sonic alchemy has already combined to world beating effect when they co-wrote/produced Kylie Mynogue’s hit ‘Slow’.


‘Tookah’ is an ambitious pop record and is in part inspired by Emiliana having become a mother for the first time. The work is described as an 'aspirational synth pop album' and was recorded with a new band, with additional writing contributions coming from band members Simon Bryt & Ian Kellett.


So what does the title 'Tookah' mean? Emiliana, who created the word, tells us: 'Tookah is when you feel yourself, the one you can always turn to. It is kind of the inner god I guess you feel when you have a feeling of everything being possible, when you feel happy, thankful and when you live from love. I call it Tookah."


There is also a nod to her native Iceland here, notably with the track ‘Home’, conceived as an ode to her son. Inspirations for this album also include the dancing sequence in the 1987 Wim Wenders film ‘Wings Of Desire’, as were Eric Satie's 'old piano works', an old programme Emiliana remembers called ‘Danish Lessons’ plus rather unexpectedly, ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ by Tomita (1974) the electronic classical record of Debussy interpretations.

And here is the lead single, 'Speed Of Dark'...


Source: News of Iceland
Iceland24, September 2013