Staying safe while carpooling to and from school

Getting to and from school safely is important, and if you need to carpool, it's best to take extra precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 while travelling with people outside of your household.

While the district does not recommend carpooling at this time, we encourage families that must carpool to follow the information provided by the BCCDC.

"Just as we have health and safety protocols for students and staff at school and work, we ask that anyone carpooling follows the same measures on their commute," said Health & Safety Officer Vanessa Ezaki.

Much like the district's Health & Safety protocols, Check Up, Back Up, Wash Up, Mask Up, the BCCDC recommends:

• Completing a daily health check before carpooling (Check Up)
• Sitting as far apart as possible in the car and maintaining physical distance (Back Up)
• Wash or sanitize your hands before you get in and when you leave (Wash Up)
• Wear a mask for the duration of the drive (Mask Up).

"The precautions students take at school can easily be applied to carpooling," said Ezaki. "Physical distancing, mask wearing, daily health checks and frequent hand washing are important to do anywhere and everywhere, whether in the classroom or in a vehicle."

The BCCDC also recommends traveling with the same carpool buddy (ideally a member of your cohort), keeping your trips as short as possible and avoiding eating or drinking in the car.

To improve ventilation, open the windows and adjust the vehicle's ventilation system to draw fresh air in. Do not recirculate air within the vehicle.

For vehicle owners, clean high contact surface areas such as seatbelts and door handles after every trip.

Additionally, don't take unnecessary trips together, such as picking up lunch or getting coffee.

Carpooling with a co-worker is not recommended, but if it must occur please let your supervisor know.

For more information, refer to the BCCDC Carpooling poster.