I have learned from Insurance insiders that even if you take traffic school, their agreements with the States is that the conviction is still reported to them. They count your speeding ticket convictions, not your points in determining your insurance rates.

In general they will only up your rates if you have two or more tickets in a three year period. You should fight every ticket and not let a single one slide by.

It is almost universal that the driving school option is available only once every three years. It's primary function is to give you a last chance when your points are so high that you would lose your drivers license otherwise.

Cash greedy courts have fostered the myth that by taking driving school that your insurance rates won't be affected. As such almost everyone pleading guilty in court requests, yes, actually requests permission to take driving school even on their first ticket.

This request is hastily granted because the court gets a fat percentage of the charge from the Driving school. You can go to almost any speeding ticket trial and find someone there taking money from those convicted for driving school. It has become a billion dollar industry based on a myth.

What the court does not tell you is that where it is offered it is there because the State legislature wrote it into the motor vehicle code. The Judge has no choice but to grant your request, provided you qualify. You can request it when you plead guilty and you can request it if you have been found guilty after a trial. The Judge has the same obligation to grant the request in both situations.

Should you request driving school on your first ticket and then have misfortune fall upon you and you find yourself in a position where you will loose your drivers license you are out of luck if three years have not passed you by. You will lose your license because you have blown your driving school option on the first ticket. The one that didn't mean anything.

On the other hand there are some driving school classes that are on line that can actually lower your insurance rates. Geico and other insurance companies offer that option. You will have to check with your insurance company as to what schools are approved for the program. Unfortunately you can't go to the school approved by the insurance company to qualify for the elimination of points in a speeding ticket. The two are separate and different.

Bottom Line. Traffic school is a money maker for the courts and not used as intended. No Judge will warn you that you should reserve this option for a time and place where it is necessary to save your license. He or she will simply smile at you, grant you your request and cheerfully let you pay for something that isn't necessary.

 Never, not ever consider it unless you are at your point limit and need it to save your license. Don't waste your money and your time on it unless absolutely necessary. Like the Tooth Fairy, the insurance angle of the driving school option is a myth.
 

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