Driving in Iceland on an Australian Licence — Side Switch, Brutal Wind & Single-Lane Bridges

Plenty of Australians arrive in Iceland feeling road-confident — if you’ve driven the outback, how hard can a small island be? The honest answer: the hazards are different ones, and overconfidence is exactly what gets people into trouble here.

The mechanical change comes first. Australia drives on the left, Iceland on the right. From the moment you leave Keflavík you’ll feel it — sitting on the left of the car, giving way to the left, reading roundabouts that now turn anticlockwise. Keep your speed modest through the first hour until the inversion stops fighting your instincts. An International Driving Permit is recommended as the translation rental desks like to see alongside your Australian licence and passport; sort it at home, as you can’t get one in Iceland. The Driving Permit Checker confirms the requirement.

Now the thing the outback never taught you: the weather, and especially the wind. Atlantic gusts routinely top 100 km/h, and they do real damage. Rental contracts in Iceland carry a specific wind-damage exclusion because a car door caught by a gust and bent backwards is a common, expensive claim — open doors slowly and hold them. When the forecast (vedur.is) or road site (road.is) flags a severe wind warning, the right call is not to drive at all. Conditions also turn from sun to sleet within an hour, even in summer.

The Ring Road itself hides traps that have nothing to do with the desert. There are no motorways: limits are 50 in town, 80 elsewhere, and gravel sections (where most single-vehicle rollovers happen) stay at 80 for a reason — ease off well before them. Watch for blind summits (blindhæð) and single-lane bridges (einbreið brú), where the vehicle nearer the bridge has priority and you must judge the gap carefully. The interior F-roads are 4WD-only gravel tracks with river fords, off-limits to a 2WD and snow-closed much of the year. The Iceland driving guide lists the warning signs worth memorising.

The alcohol limit matches home at 0.05 but is strictly enforced. Fuel is around USD 2.15 a litre at PIN-card self-service pumps, a minor speeding fine is roughly ISK 10,000 (≈ EUR 65), and emergency services answer on 112. Run a likely fine through the Speeding Fine Calculator before you set off.