It can be quite difficult to find the actual legal documents when it comes to information from the Victorian government. One particularly important document is the Stay at Home Directions.
The following is the latest Stay at Home Directions (Restricted Areas) (No 12) which covers beginning at 11:59:00pm on 16 August 2020 and ending at 11:59:00pm on 13 September 2020.
https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/stay-home-directions-restricted-areas-no-12-doc
Whilst there's a lot of information written in the press, the problem is the more they write the more they introduce ambiguities. In fact, reading the Stay at Home Directions can be quite difficult, thus making sure you're doing the right thing can be hard. The real problem is whilst you may feel you're doing the right thing, if a police officer doesn't think you are, they can fine you. Yes you can take it to court, but then you risk an even greater fine and costs.
The reason for this post is to look at what is said about driving to exercise.
On page 4 in section 1AE the following is stated.
(1AE) Where a person leaves the premises under subclause (1)(d) (exercise), the person must not:
(a) leave their premises for a period longer than 1 hour; or
(b) use a vehicle, except where it is not reasonably practicable for the person to undertake exercise without using a vehicle.
Note: if a person needs to access an area within 5km of their premises for exercise, but can only do so due to mobility (such as a parent with a small child or a person with disability) or safety reasons (such as needing to exercise in an area with greater passive surveillance) by using a vehicle, then it would not be reasonably practicable for that person to undertake exercise without using a vehicle.
There are a number of reasons there can be considerable confusion around exercise.
1. First there's the word travel and we are allowed to travel up to 5km.
When we travel we think of using a form of transport. We travel overseas. Can't do that easily without a plane. I don't travel to the local park, I walk. When I go to the local shops I travel by car.
So using the word travel, or you cannot travel more than 5km, implies usage of some form of vehicle. Travel is thus a bad word to use in this situation and causes considerable confusion.
You'll notice in the legislation in the section shown above, the word travel is not used. The word travel however is used quite considerably on the government's coronavirus website when referring to exercise.
2. There's the distance. You're allowed to travel up to 5km from your home to exercise. That means a 10km round trip. Try doing that in the one hour that's allowed without using a vehicle. It simply doesn't make sense. The implication is the use of a vehicle would be allowed if you didn't read the legislation.
3. You can exercise with one other person outside of your household.
Initially this didn't make sense to me, but then someone suggested, as a women, they wouldn't feel comfortable exercising alone, so it makes sense for safety and could equally apply to males (unless of course you're applying one set of beliefs about women and another for men).
Now given that you can use your car to travel to exercise if there's a question of safety, and exercising alone could be a safety issue, then travelling by car in theory, could be allowed if exercising with another person.
The real problem is the legislation often appears to be written to capture more people rather than less. By leaving things unclear the law can be applied either way and it may not be in your favour. Thus instead of doing what we're allowed, or should be allowed to do, we don't do something because of fear.
The real question I have now is why are we allowed to exercise with another person outside of our household. If we can exercise with them, why then can't we visit them (assuming no other people involved).
That's where the real problem is. The government has allowed people to exercise with another person as an exception, but that inconsistency then makes us start to think, things don't make sense, and if the rules don't make sense, people start to ignore the rules. That's when we are all in trouble because the virus spreads.
Keep in mind people ARE getting fined for driving to a spot and then exercising, and police have issued a warning.
You can argue it's allowed by the legislation as you felt it was safer to drive to a place with more passive security rather than walking along secluded streets, but see how far that goes with the police officer.
This is another one of those crazy situations the government has created.
The real problem is us as people. Want can find a way for us to exercise that doesn't require us to drive or meet up with other people. The problem is when we want to do something we justify it. I want to walk at a particular park because it's a nicer park. There's a safety risk because between where I am and the park there's magpies that attack. It's safer to drive, so I do. Of course I could just walk along the footpath near where I live and still get the same amount of exercise.
We all have choices. I honestly don't know half the time what the heck the government is trying to get me to do or not do. To me they're doing a terrible job and the aged care cases of coronavirus is a stark reminder of how badly they're doing. However, all of that doesn't matter. My health is my concern and doing the best for my health is about doing the best I can. It has little to do with the government. That is the choice we all have.
It really is safer when it comes to coronavirus not to exercise with a friend. You really don't know who else they are seeing. Popular parks really are crowded and the number of people you'll pass is a risk. Is it really worth it?
Kelvin Eldridge
Update: 19/08/2020
A couple of hours after writing this post I noticed in the media others were suggesting the rule that you couldn't drive to where you wanted to exercise was being questioned. Subsequently the article below appeared. It appears the rule that you can't drive to exercise is being removed effective immediately, with the changes going through on Friday. A small but sensible adjustment.
