iHow Legal Drivers Project now offers online road code learning

iHow tutor Heather Watts at the Milson Shopping Centre. The legal drivers project also operates from the Highbury Shopping Centre and in Levin. Photo / Judith Lacy

What does a yellow reflector (cat's eye) placed on the road mean? No passing.

It's one of the questions you could be asked when you sit your learner licence test.

For 18 years iHow Legal Drivers Project has been helping people learn the road code and prepare for their theory test.

Much of the learning has been done in a caravan parked at shopping centres.

The charitable trust now offers an online learning option, with iHow founder Suzanne Carpenter fronting the videos.

The five modules take about two hours to work through. There is a quiz after each module, plus a practice test, and learners have access for 24 hours, meaning they can watch the videos as many times as they like. The course costs $50.

iHow stands for in-House On Wheels. Carpenter, of Palmerston North, started working with prisoners after she saw they needed help to get their learner's licence. She now chairs the charitable trust's board.

iHow now has more than 2500 people going through its system a year, from a wide range of backgrounds and ages, says general manager Toon Huigens.

It has 11 part-time tutors in three locations - Palmerston North, Levin and Hawke's Bay, and the board is considering expanding to other centres.

iHow started in 2004 and during that time tutors have found kinaesthetic learning works best, Huigens says. There are lots of pictures and the opportunity to drive toy cars on maps, and the teaching is kept light.

The teaching model developed over the years has been very successful, with a pass rate of more than 90 per cent, he says.

The key is highlighting the important information in the road code and teaching students in a way they can remember the facts.

There is a maximum of five students to one tutor and the teaching goes as quickly as the slowest person.

iHow doesn't do the tests. Students have to go to VTNZ or AA.

Due to Covid-19 it can't currently offer its reader-writer or interpreter service.

iHow receives funding from Horizons Regional Council and the Ministry of Social Development. It also has arrangements with schools and businesses.

Half of the caravan (or community centre depending on the Covid situation) clients are walk-ins and they are charged $40.

iHow has purchased 40 tablets and is developing an app for the practice test as an alternative to the reusable workbooks, which need the answers whited out after each student.

The app will also make it easier to update the material.

For those who can't make it to an in-person session, the online service is a good alternative and Huigens says those who use it have a good chance of success at becoming a legitimate learner driver.

A driver's licence also provides a useful form of ID.

+ INFO For more information visit ihow.co.nz or ring 021 877 674.