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Although you may hope to always follow the rules of the road and never receive a speeding ticket, sometimes even the best drivers make mistakes. If you do get a ticket, the only way to clear your record is to attend traffic school.
1. Determine Whether or Not You Qualify
Anyone is free to take traffic school at any time. Some insurance programs will give you a discount for attending, and some individuals like to do it simply to help themselves become a better driver. However, you can only use traffic school to clear a ticket so many times within a given period. The length of time required between traffic school sessions will vary depending on your state.
2. Determine if Your State Allows it
Most states will allow you to attend traffic school to clear your record, but the details of this matter will depend on your exact location. To find out more information about attending traffic school in your state, click here.
3. Choose Your School
Most states will have a variety of approved schools that can help you clear your record, and the school you decide on will be a matter of personal preference. Traffic school courses can range from very serious to zany and fun. These days, many schools are learning toward the fun side since the subject matter itself tends to be a bit stuffy. There are even traffic schools that focus on improvisational comedy, so if you’re an outgoing person who likes to have fun with others, this is probably the best option for you. If you’re more of an introvert, you may want to consider doing traffic school online.
4. Pay Your Fees
Most traffic schools are affordable, with prices ranging anywhere between $15 and $45 for a course. This price is very reasonable when you consider the fact that having a ticket on your record could raise your insurance premium over time.
5. Take Your Course
If you’re enrolling in an online traffic school, you can most likely complete the course on your own time. In-person traffic school will usually last a full eight-hour work day.
6. Take Your Final Exam
Nearly every traffic school will present you with some sort of exam at the end of the course. Most often, this exam is very easy and will simply involve few questions related to the material you talked about during the day. It isn’t very likely that you will fail, but if you do, don’t worry. You will be allowed as many chances as necessary to pass.
7. Get Proof of Completion
When you complete the course and pass the test, your traffic school will give you a certificate of completion. If they don’t, you will most likely be given a letter that announces you completed the course. Take the letter or certificate to the DMV to have your ticket cleared from your record.
If you want a ticket cleared from your record, it’s important to act right away. Most states only allow you to sign up for traffic school for a short time following your ticket. You can’t use traffic school to clear up tickets you received years before, so clearing your current record will not do anything to help clean up a messy past. It will, however, help you avoid a higher insurance premium, and that alone is often reason enough to give it a try.