Tips for Safely Renting a Vehicle Today
No doubt, the pandemic has posed various challenges to many different industries including the transportation industry. Although some countries have begun to establish travel bubbles amid this pandemic to revive their tourism industry, many still wonder whether it’s safe to travel.
With public transportation at the core of some countries, some people, including yourself, may be wary of using it during this pandemic. Given that you’ll be sharing air with a number of strangers in close spaces, it’s not a surprise if the sheer convenience of public transports starts to wane off of you.
That said, you might even consider renting a car for your own convenience. However, if you’re among the many urban dwellers without a car of your own, you might also be wondering whether it’s safe to rent a car during this pandemic.
What are the chances of getting infected from your car rental? Is it worth the rental cost? While these questions may seem daunting, we’re here to assure you that as long as you abide by the precautionary measures and maintain your hygiene, the chances of getting infected is low. Ahead, we’re sharing some tips for you to safely rent a vehicle during this pandemic.
Educate yourself about the virus transmission
You should first consider how the novel coronavirus is transmitted. The World Health Organisation (WHO) states that the virus spreads via respiratory droplets when an infected person is in close contact with other people.
Now, if you apply that logic to renting a car whereby it’ll only be you and your family as the passengers, the chances of infecting each other remain low. That’s unless you’ve been sharing the rental car with other people, like your colleagues who are on a business trip from different cities.
If that’s the case, you and your colleagues ought to take extra precautions by wearing a mask always so that you all can go about doing what you need to do. Besides, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Practice physical distancing when picking up your car
Aside from wearing a mask to reduce the risks of transmission, you can also opt to keep a safe distance from the car rental representative when it comes to picking up your car. That way, you get to keep yourself safe and prevent possible infection.
If the vehicle rental company has modified its pick-up process to one that’s contactless, you can rest assured that they take the precautionary measures seriously. This means that they take both the health of their employees and clients like you into consideration when they implement the new process.
Bring extra disinfecting materials
When it comes to the car, the risks of virus transmission remain low. Let’s say that the vehicle rental company missed a spot during their disinfection process, so long as you don’t touch your face with your contaminated hands, and maintain good hygiene, you can reduce the risk of infection.
If you’re still wary, you can bring along extra materials for you to sanitise some of the high-touch surfaces of the car. This includes the door handles, steering wheel, gear shifts, knobs or buttons in the car, or any surface that you think you will touch often.
Since these high-tough surfaces may be contaminated again, you can put on gloves while cleaning the interiors of your rented car. And once you’re done sanitising, you can simply remove the gloves into a sealed plastic bag.
Ventilate your rental car
Now that you’ve sanitised your car, it’s time to ventilate your rental car. By rolling down the windows and leaving the air vents open, it’ll help to circulate fresh air and displace any infectious airborne particles in the car. Try to keep the windows down for as long as possible (even while you’re driving) for some breath of fresh air.
Wash your hands whenever possible
This is the only way to lower your risk of getting infected as the virus may survive on certain surfaces for varying periods. Make sure to clean your hands regularly and thoroughly with alcohol-based hand sanitiser or soap and water whenever you can. This may help to eliminate germs or viruses that may be on your hands.
Even after taking all the steps above, you may want to maintain good hygiene as there may be dried-up particles within the porous surfaces of your rented car such as the car seats. Simply disinfect your car’s interior after every use, ventilate it, and wash your unclean hands.
If you’re planning to rent a car, be it for a short time or longer duration, these tips will help to keep you and your passengers safe. At a time like this, everyone must adhere to the recommended precautionary measures to reduce the risks of infection.
At Edmund Vehicle Rental, we provide both short and long term car rental services to help alleviate your transportation worries during this challenging time. If you’re keen on renting a car from us, simply contact us at (65) 6250 3339 or email enquiries@edmundvehiclerental.com.sg.
