Camping Cars has reported one of their own customers for off-road driving to the police, RÚV reports. The camper van rental company decided to take the action after pictures of their customers driving and camping on the outwash plain Skeiðarársandur in South Iceland appeared on social media.
Bogi Jónsson, CEO of the company, commented on the post which appeared in Facebook group Bakland ferðaþjónustunnar (Behind the Tourism Industry), writing “this is unacceptable behaviour as we spend a lot of time with each customer to prevent such behaviour. We will file a complaint with the police ourselves.”
Bogi told RÚV it was unfortunate to have to take the action, adding that the customer did not respond well when informed of the company’s decision to do so. Camping Cars employees spend a lot of time explaining to customers what is and is not allowed in Iceland, “and it would be void if we didn’t respond to such situations,” Bogi stated.
All off-road driving is illegal in Iceland due to the fragile sub-arctic environment. This summer alone, the Environment Agency of Iceland has reported 10 cases of off-road driving. One group of French tourists were fined ISK 400,000 for the activity last month.
