When can instructors get back on the roads?
I’M wondering if you could remember the forgotten group of 40,000 driving instructors nationwide who don’t know when they will be able to get back to work - with an estimated 40% of them receiving no financial help from government despite ongoing costs still piling up for them during the coronavirus shutdown.
Not only are they affected, but there’s also tens of thousands of pupils who’ve had tests moved, and some will have to retake their theory tests as they will have expired by the time a new test date comes up.
There’s also thousands of potential driving instructors whose qualifying exams have come to a screeching halt, leaving them with no income and no form of financial support during this crisis.
The uncertainty for many instructors, pupils, and even driving examiners is the safety of sitting next to somebody in a car; clearly breaking the two-metre social distancing rule, albeit most people will usually come within two metres of somebody when going to get their shopping, or being in a taxi.
The DVSA are still offering tests to “critical workers” in the NHS and Care sector, but surely this puts both instructors and examiners at more risk, as these people have come into contact with people directly infected with Covid-19?
All driving instructors are selfemployed and therefore don’t have any form of union who we can voice our concerns to. The only bit of advice we have seen is that we are unable to teach safely due to being within two metres of a pupil. Even though this disregards we may only teach three or four pupils in a day compared to the number of fares a taxi may take each day!
All we would really ask for is a genuine form of proper advice from
Government, whether it be the health sector or the DVSA as to when we can start teaching, rather than that we can teach if X is the case, but can’t teach if Y is the case. Mike Fowler, DVSA DVI
Guinea pigs: what we need
BEING left-handed, I look at things sometimes upside-down. A huge, costly effort is being expended in tracing the contacts of those possibly infected with coronavirus as a tool to limit its propagation (if you have a super-dooper modern i-phone that is).
My ‘sinister’ tack would be to find a group of people who were uniquely resistant to the virus and dissect their DNA or biological ‘design’ to identify why and use it to create the perfect vaccine. “Simples” as some clever furry animal might irritatingly say.
Now the problem is finding ‘volunteers’! Is it not true that at one time American prisoners on Death Row were used with suitable bribes and privileges to have tear gas or nuclear radiation thrown at them on a nothing-to-lose basis? We would have to sweep morality aside in the dire current circumstances. Even if we could find ten such willing stalwarts of society, establish their genetic makeup beforehand and deliberately try to infect them, we might just find say – three – who are seemingly immune to the virus. Take them genetically apart to establish ‘why’ and perhaps you have a start point for a vaccine done on the cheap.
I suspect this kind of questionable practice still happens worldwide secretly with varying degrees of reward or intimidation for the hapless guinea pigs. If the vexed morality issue could be sorted, a uniform testing pattern agreed and results shared, then a more reliable sampling might be concluded and a vaccine issued. After all ‘prevention is better than cure.’
Bob Pickles, Hyde
Thanks for a clean sweep
CAN I just say thank you to all the key workers etc bus drivers, milkmen police NHS cleaners porters, builders, we couldn’t have the things we have now, food etc, without these workers.
I’ve noticed that the binmen are getting a lot of praise for there work and rightly so, but can I just say a big thank you to the street cleaners in Manchester City centre who get overlooked when praise is dished out. These guys and girls are out there in all weathers working, they do a great job with very little thanks from mcc and the public.
So next time you see a street cleaner say hi to them. I see them from my office all the time and constantly say hello to them – they won’t bite!
Manc and proud