From a friend and former client in Dallas several days ago –
…I probably just had one of the most bizarre experiences of a very bizarre 2020 so far. I had driven to the upscale grocery we usually shop near home, pulled into a parking space and before I could shut off the engine and grab my mask (hanging clearly exposed from the rear view mirror), a young woman hustled to my passenger side window, banged on it with a fist, and began shouting.
I rolled the window down a couple of inches to see what all the hubbub was about, and she was literally screaming about me not wearing a mask while driving alone in my own vehicle. Gov. Abbot has mandated mask-wearing in public spaces where close contact might be expected, but in no way does that mean my damned car, right?…
The Short and Sweet Answer About Masks in Cars, With a But…
Hell no, you don’t in any way, shape, or form have to wear a mask when traveling alone in your own vehicle. Most authorities on masking extend not wearing a mask acceptability to include when traveling with members of your own household or family in a personal vehicle.
Anecdotally here locally I don’t see as many folks as even two weeks ago wearing masks in a vehicle when traveling alone, but there are some who choose to do so every day I’m out and about.
There are of course some exceptions to the no need for a mask in the car approach, most of which are simply common-sense, which clearly seems to be lacking in the majority these days.
If you’re traveling with or transporting someone who is sick, masking is of course a reasonable idea, as is protecting yourself when traveling with folks from multiple households, like in a carpool, though from what I hear and read, carpools have for the most part gone the way of the dinosaur. Perhaps just as common (or moreso today) is using a ride-share service; while I’ve not seen formal studies of how contaminated ride-share vehicles are with regard to COVID-19, taxis and ride share vehicles are often viral and bacterial incubators and anecdotally I’d personally avoid them like the plague (no pun intended) currently.
There are those I suppose who draw some sort of personal comfort from the idea of wearing their masks full time, including in the car; given the actual problems associated with chronically wearing masks – particularly cloth masks that attract all sorts of viral and bacteria bad-guys when damp – it’s quite easy to build an argument that living in fear and ignoring the science of when not to mask is not a healthy behavior and needs to change.
Arguments could be made that for those who make multiple stops during a day, for example a delivery driver, staying masked makes sense so potentially contaminated hands aren’t manipulating a mask dozens (if not hundreds) of times a day. (Next time you’re out, sit a minute and watch how frequently mask-wearers touch their face and masks – it’s astounding.)
I haven’t wanted to go there on the blog, but of course there’s a pile of solid, historically validated science out there that would blow the “everybody mask all the damn time” mandates out of the water; I haven’t had time to go there in detail here, but perhaps will post a compiled list of some of the more illuminating data out there in the next few days.
Stay safe out there my friends.
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