Relatively speaking, having a misdemeanor on your CA driving record is not quite as big a deal as having a felony; however, it cannot be denied that a misdemeanor, especially in California, is going to make an impact on how you live your life. You may find that because you have a misdemeanor on your record, it may become more difficult to deal with getting or job or renting an apartment. These people have tried a lot of things in order to make things better, including attempting to attend an online traffic school. We know that it can be something of a struggle to figure out how to navigate this sticky situation, which is why we have provided this helpful article to get you through it quickly, reasonably, and cleanly.

What is Expungement?

Expungement is the process wherein a person petitions the court in order to:

1. Reopen a criminal case (in this case a misdemeanor charge)

2. Get the conviction dismissed

3. Get the case closed by the court

If you are able to do these three steps successfully, your ability to function in Californian society will improve exponentially. It should be noted that, at least in the state of California, even if you get the misdemeanor off of your record, you will still have to deal with the initial charges and arrests remaining on your record. Touching upon the specific issue of misdemeanors related to your driving record, if you had your driver's license revoked in response to a DUI offense, even if you suspend a misdemeanor conviction, the license will remain revoked until the stated time that it is planned to be returned to the owner. Finally, it should be noted that even if you have one or more misdemeanors expunged from your record, they can still be used to extend your sentence.

The difference between expunging a misdemeanor from your criminal record versus your driving record It should be noted that the process and potential results of getting a misdemeanor charge expunged from your criminal record is different than the process of expunging from your driving record. Unlike with a criminal record situation where you can only expunge a conviction from your record (and not your charges or arrests), the DMV will automatically remove certain crimes from your record after a certain length of time.

Risks of continuing to have misdemeanors on your record

We talked about two of the risks associated with misdemeanors on your record - reduced gainful employment and housing discrimination - but it definitely doesn't stop there. Other risks that you may face include:

1. Traveling may become more difficult

2. Higher insurance rates (both with respect to automobile insurance and life insurance)

And much more. For those dealing with these problems, the longer you wait to fix it, the harder it will be to fix, so get on it as soon as you possibly can.

Taking a California traffic school course in order to avoid a misdemeanor on your driving record in the future

Most conventional solutions to the problem of having misdemeanors plaguing your records tend to focus on fixing a problem that already exists; while this is a perfectly valid approach, equally valid is an approach that seeks to prevent such a thing from happening in the first place. Taking CA traffic school online has a number of benefits, including reducing ticket fines and improving younger drivers' insurance rates, but one of the best gains is simply the knowledge and skill to make yourself a better driver and better avoid committing any misdemeanors while on the road. Visit the CA DMV website for more tips and information regarding your CA driving record.