To put it bluntly, traffic tickets are hell. You wind up paying exorbitant fines because some municipalities are increasing the amounts to raise revenue. Moreover, the police are more vigilant than ever about catching motorists in the wrong. If all of this is not bad enough, never forget about the cameras that photograph your car speeding and send the pictures to you in the mail, along with a large bill.

So what can the average driver, such as yourself, do to survive in this age when “Big Brother” is watching their every move on the roads? Well, the answer is to enroll now for a defensive driving course. Not only will you receive pertinent information on how to remain safe behind the wheel but also a possible reduction of license points and having your ticket reduced or dismissed.

The Driving School of Today

You might at first be a bit wary of the advice to attend driving school. After all, you are probably a busy person. When do you have time to sit in a classroom?

Well, scheduling classes is no longer an issue. The driving school of today can take place either in a traditional brick and mortar building or online. You can have online class wherever and whenever convenient. In fact, many families and coworkers enroll in group classes to motivate each other to complete the courses.

Ticket Reduction

Most states allow those who completed a defensive driving course to have their traffic tickets dismissed.

The school should be recognized by the state. Moreover, the instructor must be certified by the authorities and the course most be for a certain number of hours. Check with your driving school to ascertain the specific requirements in your jurisdiction.

Upon completion of the course, motorists may receive ticket dismissal, license point reduction and automobile insurance discounts.

Defensive Driving vs. Traffic School

Be careful when enrolling. Some states define the two kinds of schools differently. In New York and Florida, you will be taking a defensive driving course to have your traffic ticket points reduced.

Arizona dismisses certain traffic violations after a motorist completes an approved defensive driving course. In contrast, traffic school is for serious violators ordered to take classes by the courts.
Meanwhile, California uses the two names interchangeably.

Going to Court

Americans have the right to defend themselves in a court of law. Some choose to do so when presented with a traffic ticket. They want to fight it out with the city to get the infraction removed from the record.

In certain cases, these challengers are successful. A California physicist was able to use scientific principles to win. He demonstrated that a police officer, situated at a certain angle, perceived his car to have run a stop sign when in fact it had stopped. In other instances, an alleged violator can win by default when the officer who presented the ticket does not show up in court.

Nevertheless, these victories are few and far between. Motorists usually wind up having to pay the fine and possibly some court costs.

Defensive driving school is the easier route without a doubt. Just enroll, finish the course and the violation disappears.

Enroll and Get on With Life

Everyone wants to save money. One way you can do so today is by enrolling in a state approved defensive driving school. You can have your ticket dismissed, removing the fine. Better yet, your driving record will be wiped clean, leading to a reduction in your insurance premium rate.

Perhaps best of all, you will learn some driving skills that can help you avoid getting tickets in the future.

Defensive Driving Course

A defensive driving course is meant for individuals that have received a ticket and would like it dismissed or to avoid the points accumulating on their driving record, received a court order to take a course, received a letter from the DMV requiring that they take a course, or have an insurance company that offers a discount on their premium for taking a course.

The course content, length, and time requirement vary from state to state, but each one is designed to teach students important rules of driving and laws of the road, directly from each state’s driver handbook, which are necessary to know to be a responsible and safe driver.

A student may take the defensive driving course in a classroom or they can take the course conveniently online from the comfort of their own home with online companies, such as Improv Traffic School. Typically, with classroom courses, they will spend a day in the classroom and do it all in one day. With online courses, they can log in and out as much as they would like, as long as they complete the course by the due date designated by the court/DMV/insurance company. Typically, this course is taken as a punishment for a moving violation and therefore can be anticipated as a negative experience.

For Example

The typical defensive driving course for Florida for minor moving violations is the Basic Driver Improvement course. It is a 4-hour course made up of several chapters, covering the content of the DMV driver handbook, and at the end of the course, the student must pass a final exam.

Once they complete the course, their completion is reported to the DMV and they must submit a copy of their certificate to the court. If a course is not taken, points may be applied to their driving record and if enough points add up, the individual may lose their license. It is beneficial for that person to take the course. For more severe infractions, there are also intermediate and aggressive driver improvement courses. Random Fact: an individual that is licensed in Florida can only take a defensive driving course to dismiss a ticket up to 5 times in their whole lifetime!

Driver’s Education Course

Driver’s Ed or Teen Drivers Education is designed for brand new teen drivers that have never been behind the wheel before and are starting the process of getting their license. Driver’s education is typically a requirement to earn a learner’s permit and driver’s license prior to turning 18 years old. The driver’s education course is designed specifically to prepare an individual to pass their permit test and eventually get their driver’s license.

Each state typically has a different requirement regarding how long the course must be (can range from 4 hours and all the way up to 30 hours) or when a teen can take the course. Like the defensive driving course, a driver’s education course covers all the important information from the DMV driver handbook, which is information that a new driver must know to operate a vehicle and drive safely. Typically, the course is taken in conjunction with a behind-the-wheel class. Since this course is a stepping-stone towards getting what they want (their license), it is seen in a much more positive light than a defensive driving course.

For Example

The teen driver course for Florida is called the Florida Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education (TLSAE) course, which is a 4-hour course and its focus is on driving responsibly and the many problems that can arise due to abusing drug and alcohol. Once the course is completed, the student’s completion is reported to the DMV and they are then eligible to take the permit test. Like the defensive driving course, the course and permit test can be done in person or online, for their convenience. Once the student obtains their permit, they can proceed with behind-the-wheel training and practice with a licensed driver over the age of 21 years old.

For any questions you may have regarding the differences of the courses, please feel free to call Improv Traffic at 1-800-660-8908 for extremely helpful answers!

• Explore our article on free driving lessons for low-income families in New York to discover available programs and opportunities for accessible driver education.

Now that the war in Iraq is at an end, thousands of soldiers will be coming to the spouses; boyfriends and girlfriends; families and life they left behind. With so many soldiers returning to the United States, you can expect that at least a few thousand of these soldiers will be coming home to California.

Given that they have been gone for awhile, in some cases years, now might be a good time to consider an online traffic school.

It is not easy getting accustomed to civilian life. Things are different in the military, especially when you have been serving your country over seas. Adjusting to life back in the states can be difficult. They have enough trouble finding civilian jobs, re-connecting with family and friends and sorting out their new living arrangements without worrying about traffic citations.

That’s where an online traffic school can help you. In California, like every state, you rack up points with every traffic citation you receive. If you only get one or two, that’s one thing, but in California four points in 12-months; six points in two years or eight points in three years are enough to earn you a suspended license.

Having a suspended license can make life back in the states a lot more difficult. No car makes finding a job, or keeping a job nearly impossible, especially in California where public transportation is not all that convenient.

An online traffic school can help you keep those points from adding up. It can also help you brush up on skills you might have lost or that have at least become rusty while you were defending the country.

It is no secret that a defensive driving course can help you be a safer driver. Depending on where you live it might also help keep your insurance rates low and help you keep points from adding up on your license. With all this in mind, if you’re just getting home from active duty and need an online traffic school, gives us a call or visit our web site.

You served for us, now let us serve for you.

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Be Safe Behind The Wheel All Year Long

Want to know who is most thankful for safe drivers? The police.

Just ask any California police officer, especially those who patrol interstate highways, and they will tell you, their worst memories are of crash scenes. People injured or killed through driver negligence; children hurt or left without a parent, or parents; innocent bystanders struck because they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Being a safe, defensive driver is no accident. An online traffic school can help. Anyone who has attended traffic school will admit they walked out smarter than when they walked in, no matter how much they believed they wouldn’t. Safe driving is a skill that is honed through practice and careful study. As we get older those skills sometimes lose their edge and we find ourselves unable to keep up with the ever-changing demands of safe highway driving. Vehicles become faster, more complicated and perhaps more difficult to operate, and as we travel farther by car than we have ever gone before we are likely to drive into areas which are unfamiliar, leaving us at a loss to understand local traffic laws, throughways or just plain lost and confused.

There are also more distractions behind the wheel than we have ever had before. People today have to be cautioned about not just talking on a cell phone behind the wheel, but also texting. We have DVD players in our cars, onboard computers, dashboard mounted computer screens and a plethora devices meant to make the driving experience more pleasant but that also can distract us from our priority–driving!

If you think your defensive driving skills are losing their edge, or just want to brush up on a skill you probably take for granted, do yourself a favor (and the local police) and consider a traffic school online. You’ll thank yourself later.

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Safe Driving Does Make A Difference

If you have ever wondered whether defensive driving really makes any difference, wonder no more. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said this week that the number of traffic fatalities last year is the lowest on record.

With 32,885 traffic related deaths last year, the NHTSA said the number is on a definite downward trend. In fact, that’s the lowest number of traffic related deaths since 1949, and a full 25 percent decline from the highest number which was recorded in 2005. All of this is on top of the fact Americans are now driving more miles than ever before.

The NHTSA factors in increased safety features on vehicles for at least some of the decline, but there is no disputing that safe drivers are having an effect. In fact, as more and more drivers look at improving their driving skills through the use of online traffic school the roads become a much safer place to be. Defensive driving schools help you not only understand the rules of the road, but understand your own limitations behind the wheel.

Drivers who have successfully complete a traffic school online are less likely to take risks behind the wheel and more likely to follow the proper traffic regulations. That makes their journey not only safer for them, but also safer for everyone they pass on the road.

Insurance companies too are waking up to the fact that defensive driving courses make a difference and many offer a reduction in premiums for customers who have successfully completed a course.

So before you turn your nose up at taking a defensive driving course, take a look at the numbers. After all, a fact is a fact.

Distracted Driving Kills

You don’t need to look far to find evidence that distracted driving leads to increased rashes. Anyone who has successfully completed an online traffic school knows just how dangerous it is to lose focus while you are behind the wheel. Anything that distracts you from the effort of driving; takes your eyes or attention off the road in front of you can be fatal.

Defensive driving courses have been saying it for years: Keep your eyes on the road. That means your eyes cannot be staring at a tiny text screen, watching you scroll through status updates on your smart phone, or even staring at the GPS device that will likely just ‘tell’ you where to turn. If they do, if your eyes leave the road for even a second, that’s all it takes for the driver in front of you to brake suddenly, a deer to cross your path or a pedestrian to step off the sidewalk in the path of your vehicle. If you don’t see them, you will hit them.

When it comes to what you learn at traffic school online the first rule is to keep your eyes on the road. That was probably the first thing whoever taught you how to drive said to you while you weaving your way down some country road or through an empty parking lot. A car is a 4,000 pound missile and you are taking aim every time you step on the accelerator and get behind the wheel. If you don’t pay attention to what you are doing you risk your life, the life of whoever is riding with you and the life of everyone who passes you on the road.

Be a safe driver, be a careful driver, be an attentive driver and be a defensive driver. Put down the smartphone when you get behind the wheel. Turn it off if you have to, but definitely don’t try to text while you drive. The life you save might be your own.

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Distracted Driving Is Dangerous Driving

National Transportation Safety Board this week released a report recommending a complete and total ban on the use of cell phones while driving.  The ban would include wired, wireless, hands-free devices and texting devices, but would not include the use of such devices by passengers in an automobile. According to the most recent estimates by the National Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 14 million drivers use hand-held phones, which they consider distracted driving. They also estimate that more than 3,000 deaths last year were directly caused by distracted driving.

This emphasis on distracted drivers is a direct result of the completion of a 10-study of driving habits conducted by the NTSB. The findings showed a direct connection between distracted driving and crashes, which prompted the recent suggested ban.

Drivers who completed an online traffic school understand the dangers of distracted driving so this should come as no surprise to them. Driving requires your full attention, both on the road ahead of you and the areas all around your vehicle. If your attention is drawn away, whether its toward a cell phone, the radio or even a GPS device, the opportunity is there for you to have a crash. It takes less than a second for someone to step off the sidewalk in front of you; the car ahead of you to brake suddenly, or you to find yourself in the midst of an emergency situation. Anything which draws your attention away from the hazards of driving, is itself a hazard.

At the moment, the use of cell phones by drivers vary from state to state. In 35 states it against the law to text message while driving. Another 30 states ban cell-phone use by novice drivers, and 10 ban all use of hand-held cell phones while driving. If the NTSB has its way this will be the case in all fifty states.

It seems likely that some nationwide rule governing the use of hand-held devices by drivers will be enacted, especially when you consider the strength of the NTSB in past actions. For anyone who has successfully completed traffic school online course this will hardly come as a shock because they already know just how dangerous it is to let anything come between them and their focus behind the wheel.

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