Covid-19, Estonia, Good for Business, Legislation, Transport

The government on Tuesday evening approved a proposal of Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas to enable driving schools to resume the carrying out of driving lessons from May 5. According to Aas, it is not possible to carry out driving lessons by way of distance learning. "Fortunately, the epidemiological situation has improved and driving school teachers who lost their income after the suspension of driving lessons can now continue working," the minister said.

Given that the teacher and the student meet in a small, closed space during driving lessons, the risk of infection cannot be completely ruled out by allowing driving instruction, but it can be mitigated with evidence-based and practical guidelines. Therefore, the government decided to impose special conditions for conducting driving lessons.

Neither the teacher nor the student can have any symptoms of illness; the car must have a hand sanitizer; the teacher and the student must wash or disinfect their hands before and after the drive; after each driving lesson, the teacher cleans the surfaces of the car's steering wheel, gear lever, handbrake, and everything else that has been touched by the student at the wheel and, if desired, the student and the teacher can wear a protective mask.

"Of course, driving lessons will currently not be continued in the same way as before the emergency situation. 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," Aas said. "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.

With the resumption of driving lessons, the Road Administration decided to fully resume national driving tests from Thursday. Supervision of the restriction on driver training is carried out by the Road Administration and the Police and Border Guard Board.