Icelandic motorsport federation seeks safer outlet for youth speeding

The Icelandic Motorsport Federation is exploring ways to steer young people’s speeding into a safer setting, its chairman Jón Þór Jónsson told mbl.is.

The federation has been examining what it can contribute to efforts to curb speeding by young people on streets in the capital region since early summer. It has held discussions within the organisation and has contacted police and the Icelandic Transport Authority, Jón Þór said.

He said the federation initially sought to understand what was happening and that some of what he had heard was beyond what he could have imagined. “It was a bit of a shock to realise that,” he said.

A public campaign is now being planned. Jón Þór said it may not be on a large scale, but that the issue needs to be discussed and everyone must contribute to reducing the behaviour as much as possible.

Public concern about speeding and risky behaviour among young people has grown after a crash at the junction of Krýsuvíkurvegur and Leiðarendi in late August, in which three young people died. A young man also died in a crash on Miklabraut in February.

The federation is working to move youth speeding into the safer setting of motorsport. Jón Þór discussed the problem and possible solutions in an interview on mbl.is’ Dagmál programme.