Traffic School Instructions

Follow the below steps to keep your driving record clean!

 
Step 1: Be Court-Approved to Take Traffic School
  • The letter you receive from the court informs you if you are approved to take traffic school
  • If the letter has an extra fee to attend traffic school you are usually approved
  • Only the court can tell you if you are approved. If you aren't certain, contact the court
Step 2: Pay the Court's Two (2) Fees:
  • Your Ticket Bail Amount
  • The Court'sTraffic School Administration fee (this is the court's fee to process the certificate we send them)
Step 3: Register, Pay, and Pass our Online Traffic School Course by the Court's Due Date
  • Register and pay for our traffic school course (our course fee is separate from the court's fee)
  • Take and pass our traffic school course
  • You must pass traffic school by the due date specified in the letter sent to you by the court
  • If it is passed your due date, you can sometimes contact the court and get a 30-day extension 
Step 4: Receive Your Certificate of Completion by Email Immediately After Passing
 
Step 5: We Electronically Send Your Certificate To The California Court and The DMV
  • Within 3 Business Days (Included in Base Price)
  • The Same Business Day for an Extra $8.95

Step 6: Follow Up With The Court 30 Days After Passing

We guarantee to send your certificate to your California court. Unfortunately, courts have old computer systems and manual procedures that lead to certificates being lost and not being processed!  We highly recommend that you check with the court 30 days after you pass to ensure that they have processed your certificate and have 'closed' your ticket. Do this by going to their website or by contacting them directly using the information in the letter they sent you.


Court Certificate Processing

 

Step 1: The Court Downloads Your Certificate To Their Local Computer System
  • A Court Administrator reviews your certificate against their requirements:
    • Does the information on the certificate match their records
    • Were you approved to take traffic school
    • Did you pay the ticket bail amount
    • Did you pay the Court's Traffic School Fee 
    • Did you meet the traffic school due date
  • This process can take up to 30 days and does not happen immediately
  • Court processing time does not count toward your due date
Step 2: Accept or Reject
  • If your certificate is accepted, the court 'closes' your case and informs the DMV to "Mask" and not show the ticket on your public driving record
  • If your certificate is rejected, the court may or may not inform you or us and the ticket will go on your public driving record

Commercial Drivers and Traffic School

The court may approve traffic school for a driver with a commercial driver’s license if the eligible offense occurred in a noncommercial vehicle. After completion of an approved program by a driver with a commercial driver’s license, a conviction will appear on the driving record at the DMV, but a point will not appear for the offense. Drivers with a commercial driver's license are responsible for contacting the DMV Driver Safety Unit at (916) 657-6452 after completing traffic school.

The California Vehicle Code (see section VC42005 on this state code page ) states that drivers with a commercial driver's license can only attend traffic school if they were not driving a commercial vehicle. Upon completion, the record of conviction will not be held confidential, but the conviction will not add a point count to the DMV record. Drivers with a commercial driver's license are responsible for contacting the DMV Driver Safety Unit at (916) 657-6452  after completion of traffic school, to insure that the DMV does not assess the point against their record.

If you hold a commercial driver's license and you were not driving a commercial vehicle, the record of conviction will not be held confidential but the conviction will not add a point count to your DMV record.

 

Non-California & Federal Traffic Tickets

If you have a California driver's license and receive a ticket while driving in a different state, or on Federal land, you must:

  1. Obtain approval from the non-California or Federal court to take California Traffic School
  2. You must print out the certificate we email you and mail it to them along with your payment

WARNING - Los Angeles County Tickets

Be advised that LA county courts have a long history of losing and not processing certificates. The situation is so bad that the LA Traffic Advisory Service was created to assist people with non-processed traffic school certificates!

If your ticket is from an LA County Court:

  1. Do NOT waste your time calling or going to an LA court
  2. Go to the LA County Superior Court's website (click here)
    • Enter your information on the bottom left of the page
  3. If your ticket does not show 'Closed' on the court's website after 30 days - contact the Los Angeles Traffic Advisory Service.
  • Los Angeles Traffic Advisory Service Tel: 800-555-4452
  • Email: TrafficSchoolinfo@lacda.org
  • Note: This is ONLY for Los Angeles County tickets