Traffic School Instructions

Follow these steps to successfully keep your traffic ticket from showing on your public driving record.

 
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:
  1. Your Ticket Bail Amount
  2. The Court'sTraffic School Administration fee (this is the court's fee to process the certificate we send them)
Step 3: Sign-Up for Free
  • Take our course for free - No credit card is required to start.

Step 4: Pass The Final Test

  • Pass the final test
  • You have two chances to pass the final test with a score of 70% or more
  • You can miss up to 7 out of 25 multiple-choice test questions and still pass
  • If you do not pass after two tries, you can take the course again or select a different traffic school
  • 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 5: Enter Your Ticket Information

  • After you pass the final test, you enter your ticket and contact information.
  • You must enter your information and pay within three business days or you will have to retake the course.
Step 6: Receive Your Certificate By Email
  • You are emailed your certificate after you pay for the course.
Step 7: Your Certificate is Electronically Sent to the California Court and DMV
  • Within 3 Business Days (Included in Base Price)
  • The Same Business Day for an Extra $8.95

Step 8: Follow Up With The Court 30 Days After Passing

  • We guarantee to send your certificate to your California court.
    • If your ticket is from a non-California court or is from a Federal Court, you must print and mail it to them
  • Our courts have old computer systems and manual procedures that can lead to certificates being lost or not 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.

If your ticket is from Los Angeles County, follow the directions below.


WARNING - Los Angeles County Tickets

Please be aware that LA county courts have a significant history of losing and failing to process certificates. This situation has prompted the establishment of the LA Traffic Advisory Service, which helps individuals with issues related to unprocessed traffic school certificates.

If your ticket is from an LA County Court:

  • DO NOT waste your time calling or going to an LA court
  • Go to the LA County Superior Court's website (click here)
    • Enter your information on the bottom left of the page
  • 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

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

How The Court and DMV Process Works

Step 1: The Court Downloads Your Certificate To Their Local Computer System
 
Your certificate does not show up in a local court's computer system until they download it from the central 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 court's traffic school due date
  • Court processing time does not count toward your court traffic school due date
  • This process can take up to 30 days and does not happen immediately
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 will inform the DMV to put the ticket on your public driving record. The court may or may not contact us or you about their decision.