Iceland records 12 traffic deaths this year
Monday 9th November 2026 on 12:45 in
Iceland
Twelve people have died in nine traffic accidents in Iceland this year, including at least three tourists, mbl.is reports. It is the third year in a row that more than 10 people have died in road accidents. From 2019 to 2023, the annual toll remained below 10.
The latest fatal accident happened on Sunday, when a driver died after a car left the road and overturned into the Kleifá river, beside Snæfellsnes Road.
A 70-year-old man died on 3 January when two cars collided on Biskupstungnabraut, near Þrastarlundur. On 5 February, a 17-year-old passenger died after a car struck a guardrail on Miklabraut; the driver was seriously injured.
On 16 June, a driver died in a collision between two cars on Hálsasveitarvegur, near Reykholt. Four days later, a 55-year-old motorcyclist died after a motorcycle and a car collided at the junction with Kerlingardalsvegur.
A foreign tourist died on 26 July after a car left the road and overturned near Litla-Sandfell on Þrengslavegur. On 31 August, three young people aged 16 to 21 died after a car left the road.
Two foreign tourists, both in their 60s, died in a four-car collision near Háreksstaðakvísl on the Ring Road on 3 October. On 16 October, a 47-year-old man died on Gæsavatnaleið while people were trying to free a jeep stuck in slush north of Vatnajökull. The incident was not a conventional traffic accident involving a collision or rollover, but the Icelandic Transport Authority classifies it as a fatal traffic accident.
After a high number of accidents from 2015 to 2018, fatalities fell below 10 a year in each year from 2019 to 2023. The number has since risen, with 13 people dying in traffic accidents in both 2024 and 2025.