Yesterday, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced that the corona measures are being relaxed. People with a contact profession can get back to work from May 11. Good news for the driving school industry: driving instructors can also get back in the car from next week.
It may be a somewhat open door that driving schools can also start up again next week because of the relaxation of the corona measures, but for the driving school industry it is extremely good news. For example, at the end of April, the Rijschoolpro magazine wrote on the basis of a survey that the turnover of driving schools had already decreased by an average of 96 percent and that 9 out of 10 driving schools had made use of one or more financial support funds, such as the Temporary Bridging Scheme for Independent Entrepreneurs (TOZO). Of course, not everything will immediately become the same as old. Branch organizations Bovag, FAM (Federation Driving School Management), LBKR (National Professional Association Quality Promotion Driving School Industry) and VRB (Vereniging Rijschool Belang) have jointly drawn up a safety protocol.
This protocol states, among other things, that the driving school owner is responsible for determining whether not only the instructors, but also the pupils and their housemates have no complaints during the work that fit the syndrome of COVID-19. The protocol requires instructors to be asked the following two control questions at the beginning of the workday: “Have you or anyone in your household been diagnosed with corona in the past 14 days?” and “Have you or anyone in your household had a fever, cough, cold, shortness of breath, or shortness of breath in the past 24 hours?” The instructor should ask the same questions to his or her students before each lesson. If the answer to both questions is ‘no’, you can take lessons.
The protocol also prescribes that climate control in the car must be kept out as much as possible. The windows must also remain closed where possible, in order to keep air circulation to a minimum. Before each lesson, the lesson car must not only be disinfected, but also aired. Here is another checklist for this. Wearing a mouth mask is not mandatory for both instructor and student, although protective equipment may of course always be used.
CBR
The Central Bureau for Driving Certificates (CBR) is also preparing to resume its activities. On April 2, the CBR extended the stop on theoretical and practical exams after the activities were stopped for the first time on March 16. The CBR expects to be able to start with the first theoretical exams and exams that are part of the professional training of professional drivers. There is as yet no exact start date and the CBR also says that it will provide insight into which hygiene and behavioral regulations will be used. CBR expects to provide more information during the week. Since March 16, a total of over 300,000 courses and practical and theory exams have been canceled.