The Covid Situation – In-Car Lessons
Message to students about taking in-car lessons
We at National hope you and your friends and family have all been keeping safe.
It's been a long wait under trying times as we go through an unprecedented situation during the Covid pandemic.
In the event you wish to continue or start taking lessons in the car, it will be important that you understand and comply with a few policies and procedures put in place to ensure everyone's safety to the best of your abilities. During your in-car lessons, your instructor will make every effort to ensure the vehicle is as germ-free as possible but there are limitations to that end.
As such, each student must wear a mask that covers their mouth and nose before entering the vehicle until after exiting the vehicle for each lesson. Also, students may choose to wear a pair of gloves while in the car. Neither gloves nor masks are provided and students must bring their own.
In the event that a student shows up for a lesson without a mask, they will have two choices:
Either cancel the lesson and be charged a full lesson fee of $60 or request that the instructor provides a new mask at a cost of $2 each time this happens.
Before your lesson, your instructor will have recently wiped down all potential contact surfaces with antiseptic wipes and/or sanitizer. They will ask you each time whether you have any Covid symptoms or have any reason to believe you may have been exposed to it, whether through travel or relationships. At the end of your lesson, you will be asked to also wipe down any surfaces you have touched* before the instructor gets back into the driver's side of the vehicle. This 3-5 minute process will happen during your lesson debriefing.
*The Controls and Surfaces That You Will Need To Wipe Down
Steering wheel, gear shift, rearview mirror, side mirrors adjustment controls, driver seat adjustments, including seat belt mechanism, vehicle controls such as wipers, defoggers, signal arm, lights, etc., keys or key fobs, consoles, and inside door moulding.
Unfortunately, we will not be able to put up a glass partition between the student and the instructor as this would hinder the instructor's ability to take control if and as necessary in an emergency situation.
Also, if you have:
A) Any symptoms of Covid such as fever, shortness of breath, chills, headache, sore throat, or loss of taste or smell,
B) Have been exposed to anyone who has Covid (within last 14 days) or contact with someone with symptoms associated with Covid,
C) Have traveled internationally or to a high-risk area in the last 14 days
Please Cancel Your Lesson Immediately.
Students who cancel a lesson due to Covid symptoms or possible contact will not be charged any fee unless it's within 60 minutes of their lesson time. Cancellations given under 60 minutes will result in a $20 fee to help cover some of the instructor’s expenses as they only get paid when they teach and when they are already on the road, they are incurring costs. Multiple cancellations on short notice may lead to full fees of $55 being charged each time.
We also understand that masks may be incompatible with certain health conditions.
They may be dangerous for some and problematic for others, including people with asthma and autism. We completely understand. However, in the interest of public safety, no one will be allowed into our training vehicles for lessons without full compliance with the safety measures. If health reasons prohibit you from wearing a mask, your in-car training lessons will be put on hold until further positive developments in the Covid pandemic situation.
If you don't feel these precautions are sufficient enough or safe enough for you, please advise your instructor that you wish to delay any training for the time being. Otherwise, booking and attending a lesson will be acknowledging your acceptance that these precautions are sufficient.
We also ask that you show patience when it comes to scheduling as we will be teaching a limited number of students per day in order to properly sanitize the vehicle between lessons. Again, these are unprecedented times, and we all need to work together and be understanding until the pandemic is over.
Thank you for your understanding and patience. Please contact your instructor for scheduling options in the event you wish to continue soon.