Many people may scoff at the idea of attending a four or eight hour course at a traffic school, but in truth, traffic schools are a very important aspect to driver's education. Usually, traffic school is used as a part of a punishment for breaking traffic laws or engaging in a traffic law violation, but these classes convey an important message overall. These traffic school courses serve as a reminder of the laws of the road and the potential consequences of what can happen when these laws are broken. When some traffic laws are broken lives can be lost.
In many states, in order to obtain a drivers license, prospective drivers are required to read the state's traffic education book, take a class on driver's safety, and to pass both a written and practical driving test. While many people may think that they are driving experts once they obtain their license, they could not be further from the truth. Many people forget important safety laws and end up required to take a class or two at the local traffic school.
Traffic school is not required after a person obtains his or her drivers license, however it can be court ordered or a voluntary event later on. In most cases, people end up in traffic school after they have had an accident or received a moving violation. Accidents and moving violations can potentially risk the safety and lives of others, so traffic school is an excellent way for a traffic violator to be reminded of what his or her actions could do. Many states offer traffic school as a way to avoid getting points added to your driving record and will keep your insurance premiums down. It is the intention of traffic schools to re-educate offenders so that the same mistakes will not be repeated again.
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M. Pearl (formerly M. Groh-Gordy) is a former high school and college teacher who has been a traffic school owner and instructor since 1994. Her company, InterActive! Traffic School Online currently serves traffic violators in 6 states. Her column on automobile driving is published weekly in newspapers of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group and/or the online Motorways sections of 14 California publications.
