New online permit test a win-win for everyone

     Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced a new partnership between the Iowa Department of Transportation and participating Iowa schools to help parents “Skip the Trip.”

     For many Iowa students, turning 14 years old means taking a trip to the Iowa DOT or local county treasurer’s office to take the knowledge test required to get a driver’s instruction permit. For parents, that often means taking time off work or interrupting other daily duties to get their student there. If the test isn’t passed on the first try, multiple trips may be needed.

     A new program, Skip the Trip, uses a web-based test system to offer the knowledge test at schools, eliminating the need for parents or caregivers to take their child to a driver’s license service center for the test. The knowledge test offered is the same at all state and county service centers.

     Jones County Treasurer Amy Picray, whose office issues licenses and permits at the courthouse, said the online test is only offered at schools to provide a secure, monitored site.

     “It has to be proctored,” Picray said. “And the school is a safe, comfortable, quiet place.”

     She said students might find their school more relaxing than the hustle and bustle of the Treasurer’s Office.

     Picray said offering the permit test online would surly cut down on the foot traffic coming into the Treasurer’s Office. However, the student and parent do have to come to the courthouse to be issued the initial permit.

     “It won’t cut down on the issuances, but cut down on the traffic in our office,” she said, “especially if the student fails.” Typically those mean repeat trips to the courthouse.

     “Every Iowan should expect easy access to government services,” Gov. Reynolds said. “We know parents and caregivers have busy lives. Skip the Trip is a great example of modern access to State of Iowa services, offering families convenience, choice and control in the process.”

     Picray said this program is a win-win for the students, for their parents and for the Jones County Treasurer’s Office.

     “It’s a win-win all around,” she said.

     Iowa DOT Motor Vehicle Division Director Melissa Spiegel said, “The Skip the Trip program is part of our continued effort to make it easier to do business with the Iowa DOT. This will save parents time and the expense of potentially making repeat trips to our locations and will help reduce congestion in our service centers.”

     To be eligible for participation in Skip the Trip, a student must be enrolled with a participating school or agency, be 14 years old or older, and cannot currently hold an Iowa instruction permit. Participating schools and agencies have the flexibility to administer tests at times most convenient for their students.

     As soon as Picray found out about Skip the Trip she contacted each school district in Jones County (Monticello, Anamosa and Midland) to encourage them to look into it as a free service to 14-year-old students. Once the schools contact the state to take part, Picray explained DOT staff will train the school employee(s) who will be tasked with monitoring the test.

     “I hope the schools here will consider it,” urged Picray.

     Once a student has successfully completed the test, the student will receive an e-mail verifying passage.

     Skip the Trip, Picray explained, is a “quick pass, quick fail” test. Once the student answers 20 questions correctly, the test automatically ends. If the student misses six questions, the test automatically shuts off as well.

     Picray said there are DOT practice tests students should look into before taking the Skip the Trip online test or coming into the Treasurer’s Office. “These are similar to the actual test,” she said. She also warned of copycat practice tests out on the Internet as well.

     To be issued an instruction permit, the student must bring a copy of the e-mail to the driver’s license service center along with other required documentation to prove identity. To ensure integrity in the testing process, service center staff will verify passing test result emails with Iowa DOT records.

     Picray said required documents include: copy of a birth certificate and the student’s Social Security card.

     “Once they’re here, they also have to pass the vision test,’ she said.

     The Iowa DOT just finished the pilot of this program with more than 20 schools and is now looking for new partners across the state. Visit the Skip the Trip website (https://iowadot.gov/mvd/driverslicense/skip-the-trip) for more information. If your school or agency is not yet participating but would like to, they can contact the Iowa DOT at skipthetrip.support@iowadot.us.