Few would likely dispute that Alda Sigmundsdóttir — journalist, publisher, and author — has gone to great lengths to educate foreign visitors about Iceland and its people through witty and informative writing, steering well clear of the well-worn tourist clich és of Gullfoss , Geysir , the Blue Lagoon, and Hallgrímskirkja .
Her “Little Book” series — The Little Book of Icelandic , The Little Book of the Hidden People , The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland , and The Little Book of the Icelanders at Christmas , among others — delves into all the other things about life in Iceland. Those curious can find Alda’s Little Books here.
The journalist writing this article confesses not to have read Alda’s comprehensive efforts and therefore can’t say whether her Christmas book also covers the Icelandic tradition of setting world records in fireworks and liquor consumption on New Year’s Eve.
Small-country culture and big misunderstandings
Alda aims to educate Iceland’s foreign guests about the smaller, subtler aspects of life here — subjects that don’t make the big headlines but are very real nonetheless. Elves and hidden people fall into the “perhaps” category, while Christmas and Icelandic grammar are matters of deadly seriousness.
Recently, her post in the Facebook group “Reykjavík, ICELAND Travel & Vacation” lanced one of the most festering boils of Icelandic traffic culture:
How to survive an Icelandic roundabout
Alda kindly agreed to a short chat about her post.
“Is this really news?” she laughs — her grin practically audible over the phone — before being told that something lighter is a welcome break from the endless reports on the Central Bank’s interest rates. “Fair point,” she concedes.
“There’s nothing that especially annoys me,” Alda begins, “but we do have some special rules here in Iceland,” referring to the absolute right of the inner lane in roundabouts.
“I almost crashed into a car full of tourists that drove right in front of me as I was exiting the roundabout. Most of my followers online are foreigners, and this sparked a huge discussion. Everywhere else, the outer lane has the right of way, and people kept telling me, ‘I wish it were like that here — having the inner lane take priority makes much more sense than having to change lanes just to exit.’ Some roundabouts, like in Spain, even have five lanes,” Alda says, subtly hinting that Icelandic traffic may not be as bad as it sometimes feels.
The holiest traffic rule in Iceland?
Alda writes in English — and perhaps her choice of language will save future tourists from crashing their rental cars, hearing that sharp Icelandic car horn of fury, being flipped the finger, or even fined by the police (which might be the least bad outcome).
She explains that she was nearly hit by one car and almost rear-ended by another when a driver in the outer lane broke what may well be Iceland’s holiest traffic rule:
The driver in the inner lane of a roundabout has the right of way.
Years ago, within Reykjavík used to joke that the city had only two traffic rules: Drive down Laugavegur and up Hverfisgata . Those days are long gone.
“Given that the majority of accidents in Icelandic traffic circles are caused by tourists (this is a fact), I thought a wee post on this subject might be in order,” writes Sigmundsdóttir on Facebook.
The full post can be read here , but three particularly sound pieces of advice from Alda — a high wave indeed from Iceland’s own Öldu (wave) — are worth quoting here:
“If everyone followed this protocol, there should never be an issue with the inner lane exiting, since there wouldn’t be a car to your right.”
“However, sometimes the car in the outer lane does continue on for whatever reason, and if you are driving that car, always look to your left to see if there is a car about to pass in front of you.”
“If for some reason you are in the outer lane and do not plan to take the first exit out of the circle, do put on your signal as if you are going to turn left, to show that you are planning to continue in the outer lane within the circle. That indicates to the cars in the inner lane that you are planning to continue, but it DOES NOT give you the right of way. You would still have to stop for that car in the inner lane that is planning to exit.”
Source: Mbl.is
