Fines on Iceland's roads: the tariff, and where each one bites

The short answer: ten over the limit costs 20,000 ISK on a 90 road and 10,000 to 20,000 on a 50 road; twenty over costs 50,000 and 30,000; thirty over costs 80,000 and 40,000. Pay within 30 days and the police must take 25% off, so the common 20,000 becomes 15,000. A phone in the hand is 40,000 whatever the road. These are the figures in the annex to regulation 1240/2019 on fines for traffic offences, published 30 December 2019 and in force from 1 January 2020, as served by reglugerd.is on 1 November 2026 (document dated 12 August 2026).

#Speeding, from the annex

The regulation's Article 37 table gives the posted limit across the top and the measured speed down the side, fines in thousands of krónur and licence suspension in months. Rebuilt for the four limits that matter on this site's ledgers:

The annex works in bands of measured speed (96–100, 101–110 and so on); each cell below is the band that contains the speed named, so "+20 on a 90" is the 101–110 band.

The in-between bands the table skips: on a 80 road 91–95 is 30,000; on a 50 road 61–65 is 20,000, 71–75 40,000, 81–85 60,000 and 91–95 80,000; on a 30 road 41–45 is 20,000, 51–55 40,000 and 61–65 70,000 with three months' suspension.

Three things the regulation adds. Article 2: the police chief "ber að veita sakborningi 25% afslátt" if the fine is paid in full within 30 days, so every figure above is three-quarters of itself for a tourist who pays on the spot. The note under the table: for a car with a trailer, including a caravan or tent trailer, and for lorries and buses, the fine carries "viðbættu 20% álagi". Article 1: offences not in the annex cost 20,000 to 500,000 depending on the case. The 10,000 figure in the first band of the 30 and 50 columns is what the annex prints; the 2018 notice on island.is that raised the minimum fine to 20,000 did not change that cell.

#The other three, from the same annex

• Article 57, a phone, smart device or other electronic device used without hands-free equipment: 40,000 ISK.
• Article 77, seat belt not used, driver or passenger: 20,000 ISK.
• Article 31, driving or parking on an area not meant for vehicles in a built-up area: 20,000 ISK.

Off-road driving outside towns is the case the traffic regulation does not price, because it belongs to the Nature Conservation Act, No. 60/2013, whose Article 31 prohibits it (Umhverfisstofnun's page states the prohibition). The consolidated act could not be read today: althingi.is served a bot-check page instead. What could be read is the amending act No. 52/2026 (passed 11 June, published 18 June 2026) on Stjórnartíðindi, which for serious damage to nature in Vatnajökull National Park sets fines "að lágmarki 500.000 kr." and up to four years' imprisonment, with the minimum indexed to consumer prices monthly. Outside the park the fine is set by the court, not a tariff, and no official page read today gives a figure.

#Where each one bites on the ledgers

The 90 column is the paved Ring Road, and the days it bites are the long straight ones: the sands on Day 2 of the seven-day and ten-day loops (Mýrdalssandur and Skeiðarársandur), the Möðrudalsöræfi crossing on Day 4, the Akureyri to Borgarnes run on Day 6. At the ledger's 80 km/h average nothing here applies; it is the 100 that a straight road invites that costs 20,000, and the 110 that costs 50,000.

The 80 column is gravel: Route 612 to Látrabjarg on Day 2 of the Westfjords loop, Kjölur on Days 3 and 4 of the Highlands ledger, the Dettifoss roads on the loops' north days. Ten over on gravel is the same 20,000 as on tarmac and easier to do by accident downhill.

The 50 and 30 columns are the towns the ledgers sleep in: Vík, Höfn, Egilsstaðir, Akureyri, Borgarnes, Ísafjörður, and the residential streets of Reykjavík on the South Coast and Golden Circle ledger's first two days, where 30 is the limit and 41 costs 20,000.

Phone and belt apply everywhere. Off-road is the Highlands ledger's problem, on Day 5 around Askja and at the Landmannalaugar ford on Day 2, and the ten-day loop's at Stokksnes on Day 3, where the beach is not a road.

#Sources

• Reglugerð nr. 1240/2019 um sektir og önnur viðurlög vegna brota á umferðarlögum, annex I, published 30 December 2019, in force from 1 January 2020, document dated 12 August 2026, read 1 November 2026: https://files.reglugerd.is/pdf/1240-2019/current and https://island.is/reglugerdir/nr/1240-2019
• island.is / Lögreglan, "Sektir hækka", 8 May 2018 (minimum fine 20,000, phone fine 40,000): https://island.is/frett/sektir-haekka
• Lög nr. 52/2026 um breytingu á lögum um náttúruvernd o.fl., Stjórnartíðindi, 18 June 2026: https://island.is/stjornartidindi/nr/e46cd0da-e0e8-4181-ad5d-c9c0defc0da5
• Umhverfisstofnun, "Where can you camp?" (Act 60/2013; off-road driving prohibited): https://ust.is/english/visiting-iceland/travel-information/where-can-you-camp
• Lög um náttúruvernd nr. 60/2013, consolidated text (unreachable on 1 November 2026): https://www.althingi.is/lagas/nuna/2013060.html