Driving freely anywhere in California is a privilege. For many of Californians, driving is the only way of commuting to and from workplace and home daily. It’s quite unfortunate to get pulled over and receive traffic tickets. Receiving a ticket doesn’t just mean finding oneself in a frustrating situation; it may increase your insurance rates and add points to your Driving Licence. The good news is you have an option of attending a California Traffic School. The courts in the US allow you to take up traffic training classes to remove the points from your Driving Licence. Most of the courts allow you to take traffic training online.
Next, you would like to know what are traffic violations and points in California. Basic traffic violations such as speeding, ignoring the traffic signals are one point moving violations. On the other hand, more serious offenses such as DUI (Driving Under the Influence), reckless driving and carrying illegal weapons and transport of explosives, to name a few, are two point moving violations. You may qualify to attend an eight hour traffic school class provided you have received a ticket for a one point moving violations. The received ticket is immediately dismissed once you successfully finish the training class. The point will not appear in your Driving licence. In California, one is not eligible to attend traffic school in an 18-month period. In certain cases however, with a judge’s permission, one can attend traffic school again under California Vehicle Code 41501(a). In case you have received your second ticket, you will be expected to attend a 12 hour traffic school class and your second ticket will still appear on your public driving record as a dismissed ticket.
What to do if you have just received a ticket?
The very first thing you need is to wait for a ‘Courtesy Notice’; it is issued by the court mentioning the price of the ticket. Remember, the price varies from court to court. The next you need to do is pay the ticket amount plus a Traffic School Administrative Fee (It is usually in the ranges $29 to $39) and sign an affidavit stating that you have not attended any traffic school in last 18 months. The court, then, issues the date by which you must complete the traffic school course. Generally, the court provides you with the list and contact details of traffic schools. You must be very careful if you are attending a school which is not mentioned in the list. In such cases, you must verify them prior to attending the course.
Attending online traffic school would be a sensible decision if you live for tight schedules and would not be able to spare your time. Most of the online traffic schools’ certificates are recognized by the courts in California and across the US. What matter is that you successfully complete the course and remember your lessons while driving next time.
