What's it like driving with a disability?
For many Kiwis, learning to drive is a rite of passage - the new series License to Drive shows how people with disabilities pull it off.
Wellington teenager Mathias Bridgman is one of a group of disabled New Zealanders from all walks of life going behind the wheel on the new Sky NZ series License to Drive.
Mathias - who has very little mobility in his arms - learns to drive in an adapted vehicle which he steers with his left foot, brakes and accelerates with his right foot.
"All my friends were getting cars, and I had to go out and get to places, so I thought I should probably get started... It's a door-opener, definitely, getting a license," he tells Saturday Morning.
Related stories:
Four months after filming License to Drive, Matias - who lives with the congenital joint condition arthrogryposis - is still trying to find the huge sum needed to buy his own adapted car.
"You'll see me get my Restricted on the show, which is awesome. But yeah, no, I'm still in the very difficult and time-consuming and disappointing process of finding funding for a vehicle."
Recently, Matias learned he wasn't awarded a Lottery Grant from "the people that will give you the most money for [an adapted] vehicle".
"When it comes to actual government funding, I don't even think it would scratch about half of the price of [an adapted] vehicle."
As "a pretty relaxed guy", Matias has accepted that getting a car of his own is going to be a long struggle.
In the meantime, he hopes License to Drive will inspire other people with disabilities to get out there more.
"It would be good to show others that, yeah, [people with disabilities] can do everything, we have things to do.
"It might be a more expensive or longer process, but that doesn't mean that we don't deserve to drive or that we don't need to."
Jai Waite competed with the Wheel Blacks at two Paralympic Games - in 2004 when they won the gold medal and in 2008 when they placed fifth.
Supplied / Jai Waite
The rite of passage that is learning to drive is no different for people with disabilities, says Wheel Black-turned-TV producer Jai Waite, who worked on License to Drive.
Six months after a diving accident left him paralysed from the chest down in 2000, Jai learned how to drive a car with hand controls.
"The first time I was out on my own - without a carer or someone there to assist me - that feeling of Independence was just like nothing else. You couldn't beat it."
The act of driving, which many people take for granted, is a helpful lens through which to learn about the broad spectrum of challenges for those with disabilities, Jai says.
Like any other drivers, people in adapted vehicles are just trying to get places and live their lives, he says.
"How we get there is slightly different, but at the end of the day, we're all the same."
All episodes of Licence To Drive are available to stream on Neon and Sky Go from Wednesday 2 July. On Sky Open, episodes will air on Wednesdays at 7.30pm from the same date.
