Actions  to be taken to counteract COVID 19

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● Consider whether I or my pupil have had any symptoms of the virus within the last 7 days or have been in contact with someone who has within the last 14 days

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● Before I leave to collect my pupil for a lesson I will call or text to check if you have had any symptoms of the virus within the last 7 days

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● Also if you know anyone or have been in contact with anyone that is showing symptoms or has been doing so within the last 14 days

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● We need to wash our hands for at least 20 seconds, in line with Government guidance, immediately before leaving the house for the lesson. If you want to wear disposable gloves, you should put them on just before getting into the car. You should not touch your face

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● You should wear suitable clothing providing as much covering as is reasonable. Short sleeves are now acceptable

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● Once I arrive at our agreed meeting place I will again assess whether you are well enough to start the lesson. We will have a conversation outside the car at least 2 metres away and so I can check for any symptoms. We will arrange to meet by the vehicle, not at your front door

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● I need to be 100% happy with your state and if I am not, we will not start the lesson and we will need to cancel until you have recovered fully. Ideally we will do this before every lesson, even if I saw you the day before

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● I will make sure that you have washed your hands or have hand sanitiser ready for you making sure you sanitise your hands before getting into the car

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● I will have just cleaned my hands with hand sanitiser, or soap and water where possible and that both of us should avoid touching face and hands

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● We will not shake hands, share visual aids, pens etc. and will be minimising contact for safety

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● Between lessons I will clean down door handles inside and out, windows and mirror controls, seat adjusters and head restraints, seatbelt and its connection, gear lever, steering wheel, indicator and wiper stalks, car keys and training resources

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● The car windows will be down as much as possible during the lesson to allow for ventilation, so you need to consider your clothing to keep warm as it might be cooler in the car than usual

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● I will avoid using the air conditioning if possible, however if it is used I will not set it to recirculate

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● Your parents, guardians or friends, will not be able to sit in on the lesson or test

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● Any new clients will need their licence checked electronically at https://www.gov.uk/checkdriving-information I need: the last 8 characters of your driving licence and the check code from the new pupil. You will need to hold the licence up so I can check it. I will not touch or take the licence from you. The code will be valid for 21 days and you can only use the code once

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● I will have hand sanitiser available and wash my hands as frequently as I can.

 

● Antibacterial wipes or spray will be used to clean down the car between lessons. Household disinfectant will also be used

 

● Public Health England (PHE) household guidance on the disposal of waste that could be infected with COVID-19 states that we must securely store the PPE waste in disposal rubbish bags. I will place these bags in another bag. I will tie this bag securely and keep it separate from other waste. This waste will be set aside for at least 72 hours before being put in the usual external household bin for non-recyclable waste. I will also consider the following:

 

● Disposable gloves could be worn by myself and my pupil, but I will still need to wash my hands and clean down surfaces and controls. Some people have a latex allergy so check with your clients. Gloves would need to be changed after each lesson

 

● We do not recommend the use of face visors, however, if you are insistent on wearing one, then a mask or face covering must also be used as wearing a visor alone will provide little protection. I will need to check with my insurance providers first before using a visor

 

● I will have a supply of both gloves and masks to offer you before entering the vehicle if you do not have your own supply

 

● We strongly recommend you wear a mask or face covering and make sure you use a new one frequently and dispose of the old one safely and responsibly. Reusable ones need to be washed at least daily and at 60 degrees and above to be effective. Government advice is to wear a face covering at 1m+

 

● Gloves need to be changed frequently

 

● I will wash my clothing as soon as I have finished work for the day

 

● It is essential that the PPE equipment you choose does not impede our ability to control the vehicle or communicate with each other. For that reason we do not recommend plastic face visors or plastic screen dividers as they could be dangerous if they mist up or an airbag is deployed and they may be regarded as an adaptation to the vehicle

 

● During the lesson consider the following:

 

● Visual aids and any training resources should be held up and not passed between the two of us to hold and touch

 

● Writing should be done by myself and we will not share a pen or other devices where possible. If we do then I will clean with anti-bac wipes straight afterwards

 

● We will try to avoid directly facing each other when discussing scenarios, it is safer to face forwards in the vehicle because we cannot maintain being 1 metre + apart

 

● We will have discussions outside of the car where safe and legal to do so

 

● If I have to give a demonstration drive I will need to wipe down the controls before and after the drive

 

● If I have to touch the controls during the lesson the car must be pulled up at the earliest convenience and the controls must be wiped down. If I accidentally touch your hand as a result of a serious incident we must both sanitise our hands

 

● I will consider wherever possible giving any briefing notes digitally

 

● Electronic payments/bank transfers will be the new NORM and I will give you my bank details. This needs to be done prior to the lesson wherever possible

 

● After the lesson I will need to repeat some of the same processes that I did at the start of the lesson. If I then drive to pick up my next client, I will need to repeat the process again, in short, each time that someone has been in the driving seat. I will allow extra time between lessons to allow for this

 

● I will remind you to wash your hands as soon as you get back into your house

 

● I will wipe the car down ready for the next lesson or my journey home

 

● I will call my next pupil and assess their state to avoid a wasted journey

 

● I will consider wherever possible to use my vehicle solely for work purposes and minimise allowing family in it if at all possible

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● Taking a Driving Test ….We will arrive at the test centre no more than 5 minutes before the test time, this should allow us enough time to wipe down the examiners side of the vehicle, including seat adjusters and head restraint, seatbelt and its connection, the dashboard area and passenger door contact points

 

● Remember test times may be different to before as DVSA try to maximise social distancing and avoiding too many people gathering at once

 

● The meet and greet by the examiner will be conducted in the car park or usual meeting place where tests usually begin where there is no car park

 

● If a driving test candidate or driving examiner develops symptoms in the days after a test, the NHS Test and Trace service will use data DVSA collects from the candidate to contact them. DVSA have updated their privacy notice published on GOV.UK to explain how they manage personal data. See section 4.1 of the following document: Book and manage your driving test: privacy notice

 

● If an instructor or pupil develop symptoms days after a lesson, they must follow the relevant NHS Test and Trace procedure for each country without delay The examiner may choose to fit a disposable seat cover and must be satisfied the car has been recently cleaned. The examiner will use an antiviral wipe to clean the passenger door and touch points

 

● Candidates must bring and wear a face covering for the duration of the test, the Examiners can provide one to the candidate if needed. This is a mandatory requirement unless the DVSA is informed at the time of test booking a suitable reason for not wearing one such as a physical or mental illness, impairment or disability that means candidates cannot put one on or remove one

 

● Examiners will wear a face covering

 

● Not all test centres will be open straight away and this will vary from site to site. The DVSA need to ensure centres are safe before reopening after being closed for such a long time

 

● Waiting room facilities will not be available for candidates. Candidates will be asked to wait outside so ensure you plan for this with suitable clothing

 

● If the test centre has toilet facilities, candidates and instructors can use them on request by asking a member of DVSA staff. Toilets will need to be cleaned by the user before and after use and cleaning materials will be supplied by DVSA

 

● I will explain how the examiner will behave before arrival at the test centre

 

● I will not be allowed to accompany the test

 

● The DVSA will support the ADI attending a debrief, outside of vehicle, subject to social distancing where this is not possible e.g. due to poor weather, I may not be able the join the debrief

 

● If you develop a cough, or become unwell during the test, the test will be stopped

 

● If you develop symptoms within the 3 days prior to a test, we can rebook to another date without losing the fee

 

● If you commit a serious or dangerous fault (or makes 16 driving faults) that would result in a fail, you will be directed back to the Driving Test Centre. Test conditions continue until you return to the centre, where the test will be ended and a debrief offered Terms and Conditions (T&C’s) during COVID 19. T&Cs will be revised during this time. For example the late cancellation policy due to COVID-19. This could relate to the following situations:

 

● If you or anyone in your household becomes unwell and has symptoms

 

● If you believe you may have been in contact with someone showing symptoms