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Did you know you can attend traffic school more than once within 18 months?
If you're a licensed driver in California, then you may have fallen victim to the dreaded red and blue lights of a police vehicle or California Highway Patrol (CHP). Hopefully it was for something as simple as a speeding ticket than for something serious like a DUI (Driving Under the Influence).
If you have been lucky enough to not have received a minor traffic violation ticket, you should still keep reading as you may get one someday or you may know someone who has and this can help them.
What happens when you get a minor traffic violation (like a speeding ticket)?
Once you get pulled over, you have to sign a ticket… signing the ticket does not admit guilt; keep that in mind. Signing the ticket just means you make a promise to appear in court regarding this traffic violation.
Within about 2 weeks later, you will receive your courtesy notice from the court regarding your ticket. In the notice, you will be told your court date, your ticket fine, and if you can attend traffic school. Many people will opt to pay the additional fee of traffic school in order to keep the ticket off their DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) record and to keep their car insurance from going up.
Typically a minor moving violation such as a speeding ticket will result in one point on your DMV driving record. This one point could result in an increase of your car insurance by $30 per month. That's over $300 per year! Since a speeding ticket will stay on your DMV driving record for 3 years, your insurance could be affected by over $900!
How often can you go to traffic school?
In the courtesy notice from the court, you will be told you may attend traffic school if you have not previously attended traffic school within the past 18 months. If you choose to attend traffic school, you have a couple of options.
You can attend an authorized traffic school course such as the “Comedy Traffic School” or you can attend an approved online course. You are required to take a minimum of 8 hours of traffic school and must return your certificate of completion to the court by the required date. You will have to pay additional fees to the school as well – typically about $20 to $40 depending on the course.
But what happens if within the next 18 months you receive a second speeding ticket? Or even a third? Are you doomed to have that point show up on your DMV record and have your car insurance raised on you? No!
You can attend traffic school again under the California Vehicle Code Section 41501(a). A few points about this code: (1) You must appear in court and ask the Judge to grant you permission to attend traffic school under this code. (2) You must attend a minimum of 12 hours of traffic school – the Judge can mandate even more hours based on his/her choosing. (3) You cannot complete traffic school on-line.
This will still keep the point off of your DMV driving record and your car insurance will most likely not be affected by your traffic infraction.
What does California Vehicle Code Section 41501(a) actually say?
To read the actual vehicle code, go to: http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d17/vc41501.htm
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