The FACTS about California's new traffic school law

Lots of rumors floating around about a new law in California that impacts a driver's ability to take TRAFFIC SCHOOL to dismiss a citation from his or her driving record after receiving a traffic ticket.

While it's true that a new California law took effect on July 1, 2011 that changes the way traffic violations appear on your DMV record, it is NOT true that taking traffic school will no longer have an impact.  Taking traffic school will still play a significant role in keeping your driving record clean and keeping your insurance rates low.

Let's take a look at the facts to clear up any confusion:


THE OLD SYSTEM:  

• CA law allowed drivers to take traffic school once every 18 months
• Completing traffic school allowed for the courts to DISMISS the infraction from the driving record
• The citation would not appear on the DMV record
• The insurance companies would not see the infraction, therefore no insurance increases

Traffic school expert explains the problem with this system:


Matt Kaminsky, the president & CEO of BESTtrafficschool.com, says,  "The old system provided a loophole for REPEAT OFFENDERS.  Under this program, since the infraction never appeared on the DMV record, the DMV had no way of actually knowing how many times a driver had attended traffic school within an 18-month period.  The result is that repeat offenders were often able to take traffic school 3, 4, or 5 times within an 18-month period without the DMV having a way of tracking this history."

The new policy closes the loophole that Kaminsky speaks of.

THE NEW SYSTEM:

• CA law allows drivers to take traffic school once every 18 months

• All infractions will show on the DMV record as driving convictions, giving the DMV the ability to track repeat offenders and prevent them from abusing the 18-month law

• Completing traffic school allows for the FIRST driving conviction within an 18-month period to be MASKED on your driving record

• The insurance companies will NOT be able to see the masked convictions, therefore NO INSURANCE INCREASE.

In reality, very little has changed.  The new law only affects those people out there who were trying to trick the system by attending traffic school more than the law allowed for.

So ignore the rumors and absorb the facts above.  

BOTTOM LINE:  If you receive a ticket, you'd be crazy not to attend traffic school if given the opportunity to do so.  Not only could you learn something beneficial that could make you a better driver, but you'll mask your conviction from your insurance company and keep your insurance rates low.

Ultimately, isn't that really what we're all looking for?