Tell me about CA's online traffic school.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I got nailed with instant-on tonight, coming back to Phoenix from LA on I-10 before Blythe, just a few miles from the AZ state line. I pulled over before he even lit me up. I knew he had me. He was all business and not chatty at all, said he got me at 89 in a 70 zone. I wonder how he missed the red Neon that passed me like I was standing still with no other exits between there and where he got me. Anyway, he cut it down to 80 in a 70 and said I could do an online traffic school to keep the points from going to my VA license. I see a lot of non-DMV online traffic schools. How legit are these, what's the best one to take and does it really make points go away? I don't even know what the fine is or how many points 10 over gets you in CA. I'm sure plenty of folks here have some experience with this. Any non-CA residents do it too?

look 171 · 04-21-2008, 10:22 PM

If you are 10 over, its close to 300 bucks or a bit more when you get done. Ask my how I know. You should be able to do everything over the phone or internet. I did the mail home traffic school. Read the package, and answer the questions. Took me about 2 hours. It should have the school listed with all the BS from the court. I would only trust those. the on line school sucks. there's a timer on the page so it makes you read through all the stuff. You have to call them and ask if they have the mail home package.

the · 04-21-2008, 10:23 PM

Not all counties in CA allow it. You need to check with the court in the county where you got the ticket for the details specific to your situation. I once did a CA online traffic school. It rocked. I was done in 20 minutes. Basically, you can just answer anything (if you just guess, you'll probably get 75-80% correct), and if you get it wrong, they just give you the answer (they "highlight" the text where the answer is).

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Will I be out any less money if I hire a lawyer to handle the whole thing for me? Do they dismiss those if you hire someone who plays golf with the prosecutor and thereby pay into the good ole boy racket like in Virginia?

the · 04-21-2008, 10:54 PM

No, for a 10 over ticket, it will be cheaper, quicker and easier to just do the traffic school and pay the fine.

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Precisely. Kalifornia makes damn sure the "easiest" and most "cost effective" way to deal with this stuff is to make sure THEY get paid.

daepp · 04-22-2008, 07:37 AM

I did online TS a few years ago. It went well and fast and cheap - the only hassle was that I had to show up at a designated site (a notary's place was the closest to me) and show ID and take one more test. PITA

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Hey, I know this was just a blatant case of the state stealing my money because they can. Fight the battles you can win. This one is a matter of getting out the checkbook and keeping quiet. I just want to make sure muy insurance co. doesn't get wind of this. I got nailed by the U.S. Park Police last year and the cop told me their tickets don't report to DMV, I confirmed this with the court and it hasn't shown up on my record. I kind of wonder, if I change my license over from VA to AZ before this is all settled, if the points will somehow just get lost. I'd feel pretty stupid getting stopped in AZ and then telling the cop I haven't changed my license over to AZ yet because I'm still waiting for a ticket in CA to get settled.

biosurfer1 · 04-22-2008, 09:31 AM

Funny this gets brought up, my brother just did it and this is what he posted about his experience:

Traffic school enrollment notification email @ 9:50:55 pm 4/20/2008

Traffic school payment notification email @ 9:55:42 pm 4/20/2008

Traffic school completion notification email @ 10:13:14 pm 4/20/2008

23 minutes total!

HA!

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by biosurfer1

Funny this gets brought up, my brother just did it and this is what he posted about his experience:

Traffic school enrollment notification email @ 9:50:55 pm 4/20/2008

Traffic school payment notification email @ 9:55:42 pm 4/20/2008

Traffic school completion notification email @ 10:13:14 pm 4/20/2008

23 minutes total!

HA!

Hey, it's all about safety, right?

gprsh924 · 04-22-2008, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Hey, it's all about safety, right?

Yup, thats why I went to traffic school because of a speeding ticket, but spent the class reviewing how to properly negotiate a left hand turn and where the proper place was to stop at the stop sign.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by gprsh924

Yup, thats why I went to traffic school because of a speeding ticket, but spent the class reviewing how to properly negotiate a left hand turn and where the proper place was to stop at the stop sign.

Yeah, and don't they have a lot of questions about drinking and BAC stuff that's so related to speed? I wish they'd offer a class on something that matters like radar cross sections, effective range, calibration, how to defeat instant-on, you know, the stuff I could really use. These CHP's are just the highway men of old England. Didn't the term "turnpike" come from "shunpiking" by the old highway bandits? How ironic.