On Tuesday, Luxembourg's Ministry of Mobility and Public Works announced various precautionary measures to be implemented in vehicle technical inspection bodies in the Grand Duchy during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.
Given the development of the coronavirus-related health crisis and in the interest of reducing the risk of transmission for customers as well as employees of technical inspection bodies, the ministry announced the following precautionary measures, introduced as of 17 March 2020 and partially adapted and maintained until Sunday 26 April 2020.
In this context, technical inspection bodies will only accept vehicles for the period indicated for which the technical inspection certificate will expire within two weeks or for which the certificate is no longer valid. In addition, contact with customers should be reduced to a minimum; a maximum of five customers may wait in a closed room and a minimum distance of two metres between customers must be respected.
Technical inspection employees must protect themselves by means of disposable gloves or by a disinfectant product against a possible transmission of pathogenic agents. If non-disposable gloves are used, the gloves must be disinfected after each vehicle checked. It is also recommended that inspectors wear respiratory masks and to use a seat cover if the inspector has to manoeuvre a customer's vehicle.
The ministry recalled that the road transport of goods has become vital across Europe to guarantee the supply of medical and pharmaceutical equipment and food. As such, the technical inspection of the related rolling stock plays a key element in the protection of drivers and the supply of goods. The importance of technical inspections also applies to vehicles that are used daily by people who continue to offer their services in the interest of the common good, despite this difficult situation, according to the ministry.
Nevertheless, the decision not to extend vehicle technical inspection deadlines during the current crisis has attracted some criticism. For its part, the Automobile Club du Luxembourg (ACL) noted in a press release issued today that many of its members have expressed concern over these deadlines. The ACL recalled that, given the current health crisis, many are unable to make the trip to present their vehicle to technical inspection on time. The club maintained that this means that when the situation is normalised, the technical inspection stations will be overloaded by these additional customers who will need an appointment quickly, since their vehicle will no longer be in good standing.
The ACL has therefore proposed that the technical inspection certificates currently valid until 1 June 2020 be extended by six months to allow the SNCT, Dekra and LU KS inspection bodies to meet increased demand in the coming weeks. In this context, the ACL has also associated itself with the demands of MOBIZ, the federation of car rental companies.
