Police in Iceland are warning drivers to stop staring at the sky and to keep their eyes on the road after a series of traffic stops involving erratic drivers.
Officers pulled over at least two drivers recently on suspicion of drunken driving, only to discover the tourists had been mesmerized by the flashing and colorful northern lights, according to Iceland Magazine, which described it as "under the influence of the Aurora."
One of the drivers told police he just couldn’t stop looking at the northern lights.
In the second incident, police pulled over a car filled with tourists veering across the highway. It turns out the foreign visitors were completely sober, but so captivated by the Aurora Borealis they told officers they couldn’t drive responsibly, the magazine reported.
The Aurora Borealis, known as the northern lights, and the Aurora Australis, or southern lights, are a result of the collision between electrically charged particles with Earth's upper atmosphere, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.
The phenomenon produces colorful light that flashes across the sky, producing one of the most amazing light shows nature has to offer.
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