French Tourist Removed Route Maps After Off-Road Driving Fine

The GPS routes allegedly documenting a French tourist group’s journey across South Iceland have been removed from the route-sharing platform Wikiloc days after the travellers were fined for illegal off-road driving in protected highland areas. The deleted uploads belonged to Luc Haudeville, one of several French tourists who were fined hundreds of thousands of Icelandic krónur after authorities said they drove two four-wheel-drive vehicles across protected land near Kötlujökull, Einhyrningur and Hvanngil. What’s the Story? Original source: RÚV A French tourist fined for illegal off-road driving shared maps of his journey online. The maps appeared to show repeated driving outside marked roads before being removed. The group was fined hundreds of thousands of krónur after damaging protected highland terrain. Route Removed Before they were removed, the maps recorded two separate journeys: one through the Eastfjords and another from Höfn to Reykjavík along the south coast. The latter appeared to show the vehicles repeatedly leaving marked roads. The routes were published on Wikiloc, a platform where users share GPS tracks for outdoor activities including hiking, cycling and four-wheel-drive travel. The uploaded routes quickly drew criticism from other Wikiloc users. One commenter urged people not to follow the route, noting that Icelandic police had already taken action against Haudeville. Another accused the tourist of showing no remorse, arguing that Iceland’s ban on off-road driving exists to protect landscapes that can take decades to recover from damage. The comment said that continuing to display the route after the incident demonstrated a disregard for the country’s environment and those working to preserve it. By the time the story was updated, both GPS routes had been removed from Wikiloc. Read more stories covering Icelandic society, politics, business, and culture at Iceland Review News . The post French Tourist Removed Route Maps After Off-Road Driving Fine appeared first on Iceland Review .