Ladybird Driving School Coronavirus Update
Road Safety Authority have made another announcement on the 5th of June 2020 that some have confirmed that the phased reopening of some RSA’s services will be further extended on Monday 8 June, the start of phase 2 of the Government’s road map for easing of COVID19 restrictions.
Driving Lessons Update
The Government proposal to bring forward the phases and to only now have 4 phases means Driving Lessons may resume on July 20th 2020.
So What are the steps for when will driving lessons resume
Driving schools need to create their own COVID19 back to work sanitation etiquette and clearly state this for the public to read on their website and Social media.
On initial contact over the phone or email the pupil should be asked if they have had the virus, know anyone or be in contact with anyone who has currently got the Virus and/or if they have been contact traced.
Then the physical health of the pupil needs to be established. Do the have a temperature of 38 degrees celsius or above, have they got a persistent cough or shortness of breath.
General advice to protect yourself and fast track when driving lessons will resume
As we all know by now the general advice to protect yourself is to wash your hands frequently and properly with an Alcohol based hand rub.
Practice good Respiratory hygiene when coughing or sneezing and cover your mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or arm.
Avoid touching your eyes,nose and mouth.
Before the lesson begins
We offer some ideas and sanitation solutions Pre and Post lesson and will be guided by the RSA and the HSE in relation to best practice when the time comes.
- Before conducting and lesson whether from the Test Centre or a home pick up you should have already established the following information
- Do they have any symptoms such as High temperature,Dry cough or shortness of breath,
- Do they know anyone who has these symptoms also.
- Have they or anyone they know traveled to or from a high risk area.
- To make sure they have their own PPE such as face mask and gloves ,should the guidelines say so.
- On arrival at the lesson location you should physically evaluate the condition of the pupil before the lessons begins.
- Advise that hand sanitiser is in the boot and please use this before entering the drivers seat or passenger seat.
- Have all PPE on their person prior to entering the car. In the boot your PPE/sanitation equipment should consist of:
- Appropriate masks
- Hand sanitiser
- Antibacterial wipes and spray
- Disposable bin bags
- No handshakes
The car will be sanitised properly before every lesson and there will be no physical contact between the instructor and the pupil and the learner permit will be shown to the Instructor not handed.
Windows Should be down somewhat to allow for ventilation.Wind breakers on both front car doors are useful for this purpose.
During the Driving Lessons
The lesson content should remain as before except you should not offer the training aid by hand.You can show the necessary diagrams but not give it to the pupil.
Any writing should be done by the ADI.
Avoid face to face interaction if possible id discussing and briefing or recapping.
After the Driving Lesson
The pupil should leave the car and take all of their PPE equipment and dispose properly.
Instructor should do the same with their PPE equipment and the process of in car sanitation and hygiene control should begin to get ready for the next pupil.
These guidelines are just a step towards improving in car sanitation and protection for both instructors and pupils.
As we stated earlier these are a guide but we await the correct protocols from the RSA and HSE in order to amend our COVID19 back to work in car protocols.
We hope we have answered most of the anxiety around when will driving lessons resume.
Please support the government’s campaign to contain the spread: https://www2.hse.ie/
We would encourage our learners to continue to prepare for the time when test centres re-open and there are a number of online resources:
Please note that that both RSA Theory and Practical testing have been suspended until 19th of April and details can be found here: https://www.rsa.ie/Utility/News/Alerts/Coronavirus-COVIDID–19–No-Disruption-to-RSA-Services/
You can keep up to date with RTE News here: https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/
The safety of our learners and driving instructors are our main priority, you can still get our prices here and we’ll be contacting you when this is all over.
If you have any further questions please contact us here or jump over to Facebook here.
Stay safe!