Driving lessons, tests resuming this week
The Road Administration (Maanteeamet) is to resume holding driving tests from Thursday. Driving lessons have already started up again after a government lifting of restrictions on them in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, on Tuesday.
The change followed a proposal from economic affairs minister Taavi Aas (Center) that driving schools be permitted to resume lessons, given that remote learning was not an option here.
"Fortunately, the epidemiological situation has improved and driving school teachers who lost their income after the suspension of driving lessons can now continue working," Aas said Tuesday, according to BNS.
Requirements are to be imposed for driving lessons, which are:
- Neither student nor teacher can present with COVID-19 symptoms, for the lesson to go ahead.
- A hand sanitizer must be available in-vehicle.
- The driving instructor must clean off surfaces the student has touched in the course of their lesson, including steering wheel, gearshift, handbrake, indicators etc., post-lesson. Student and teacher can wear masks, but it is not mandatory.
"Of course, driving lessons will currently not be continued in the same way as before the emergency situation," Taavi Aas said.
"When conducting each lesson, it is important to adhere to the restrictions necessary to prevent the spread of the disease in order to protect both the student and the teacher … Easing the restrictions will allow instructors to return to their core business, and we hope that this will help schools survive in the current difficult situation," he added.
Following the lifting of restrictions on driving lessons, the Road Administration (Maanteeamet) opted to follow suit in resuming driving tests from Thursday this week.
The lessons and tests cover car and other motor vehicle drivers, including the test for drivers transporting dangerous goods.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte