Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria (CPVV) is hitting the road to help reduce the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19) transmission.
CPVV is the safety regulator of the commercial passenger vehicle (CPV) industry. CPVs include taxis, rideshare vehicles and hire cars.
Under new regulations introduced by the Victorian Government, drivers must clean their vehicles frequently and work with their booking service providers to keep a record of what is cleaned when. They must also have hand sanitiser available for passengers to use.
Uniformed CPVV officers will be patrolling metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria to ensure CPV drivers understand their obligations under the new regulations, which are designed to reduce the risk of the virus.
The new laws reflect the advice that has been issued to the CPV industry since the start of the pandemic.
The safety campaign will be launched in Geelong today (Thursday 3 December) and inspections will be rolled out across Victoria in the coming weeks.
While the focus of the inspections will be compliance with the cleaning regulations, officers will also be carrying out normal safety checks on vehicles and drivers.
Aaron de Rozario, Chief Executive, Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria, said: “The CPV industry has worked hard in recent months to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus and we are grateful for everyone’s efforts.
“While we are not currently seeing any new cases of the virus in Victoria, the advice from the Department of Health and Human Services is that there is still a risk. That’s why these additional cleaning requirements are in place.”
Minister for Roads and Road Safety Ben Carroll said: “We’re thankful that taxi and rideshare drivers have been so diligent throughout the pandemic to keep everyone safe and stop the spread of the virus. It’s crucial that there are clear rules in place to continue to keep both drivers and passengers safe.”
Learn about the cleaning requirements for commercial passenger vehicles in our FAQs.