As soon as a driver gets written-up for a ticket whether for running a red light, making illegal turn, speeding or another moving violation, the scary thought hits hard. How much will car insurance premium go up?
Traffic school
Many of these offenders go to traffic school, which lets them make their ticket disappear (some states). At least it is gone from the Department of Motor Vehicles and insurance companies.
Enrolment
Enrolment in traffic school (also known as defensive driving) has climbed steadily in many states. According to the Automobile Club in Southern California, over 20,000 drivers attended traffic school in 1975. Today, that number is past a million, out of the 5 million drivers ticketed each year.
Options for traffic school
There are also more options that ever for finishing traffic school. Drivers can choose “distance-learning, “which includes internet classes as well as home study. They can stick with traditional classroom classes, having many ways to distinguish themselves by serving pizza or teachers who are comedians.
Undercut fee
There are some schools that undercut the normal fee of $30, endorsing themselves as choices that are thrifty after drivers have already paid in some cases, a big fine. Some take all day; other offers two sessions in the evening. Schools online can be finished in one sitting or several, as can at-home courses that use videos or handbooks. The marketing pitches in many states make it sound so easy and convenient.
Options for distance learning
These distance-learning options are new, so they have not been studied and experts can not say how they compare to the traditional classroom. But many have some concerns about internet and at-home options.
Every state
Every state has some sort of method of “working your ticket off” or keeping insurance premiums from going up. Whether it is defensive driving classes or traffic school you should find out what is the option in your state.