Back to “normal”?
Zone Reps meet on a monthly conference call with the Executive Council of PCA. Each month an agenda is organized by an assigned zone rep and presented in advance. The month of May was my month in the rotation to organize the agenda and manage the meeting. Needless to say the request for agenda discussion topics by zone reps, as well as the update portion presented by the EC, revolved largely around the corona virus. And specifically how PCA nationally, and regions locally, will prepare for re-opening in this new environment.
As many of you are aware, PCA requires that any moving car event be insured under a policy that is organized by the national club. You probably also know that depending on the event type, regions are bound to adhere to guidelines or minimum standards specific to each type of event. As of now, we have an additional set of requirements related to the health and safety of our club members which will apply to every type of insured event in every region. As these requirements are just being rolled out, please be patient with your region’s volunteer activities leaders who will be responsible for implementing this new expectation.
To give you a look into the planning process, your event chairs are going to need to provide documentation in advance that the planned activity is allowed under all applicable limitations at the location. This will include state, county, town, and even venue restrictions that may be in place in response to the corona virus. As well, organizers will be asked to answer questions about how issues like social distancing, waiver signing, volunteer safety and other issues will be managed. All of this will happen before an insurance certificate can be issued. Additionally each certificate, for the time being, will require approval by an assigned member of the Executive Council. So for now, this is the new normal. As I am writing this, two events in the zone have been canceled or modified as a result of this new set of expectations. It’s going to take a bit of time and some experience on all sides to adjust to our new criteria.
This is a higher bar for all of us. But in my opinion, it’s the right thing to do. Looking out for our own health and safety is important. Being respectful of the fact that each one of us has the potential to unwittingly impact the health of our fellow club members may be even more important.
More than ever, it’s not just the cars. It’s the people. We’ll all get through this together.
Rich Sanders