Overview
If you get a ticket in California, you can request the court for a permission to attend an 8-hour traffic school. This will dismiss the ticket from your record, thereby avoiding the insurance consequences. State law allows you to attend a traffic school class every 18 months. (Please note that traffic school does not apply for more serious offenses such as DUI, reckless driving, and etc., and rightfully so.)



Qualifications and Conditions
If you have attended an 8-hour class in the past 18 months (from your violation date), you CAN go back to traffic school for 12 HOURS, at the discretion of a judge: CVC41501. The court may order a continuance of a proceeding against a person, who receives a notice to appear in court for a violation of any statute relating to the safe operation of a vehicle, in consideration for attendance at a licensed school for traffic violators, a licensed driving school, or any other court-approved program of driving instruction, and, after that attendance, the court may dismiss the complaint under the following conditions:

(a) If the offense is alleged to have been committed within 12 months of another offense which was dismissed under this section, the court may order the continuance and, after the attendance, dismiss the complaint. The court may order attendance at a licensed school for traffic violators, which offers a program of at least 12 hours of instruction.

(b) If the offense is not alleged to have occurred within 12 months of another offense which was dismissed under this section, the court may order the continuance and, after the attendance, dismiss the complaint if the attendance is at any of the types of schools or programs that the court directed pursuant to Section 42005 at the time of ordering the continuance which means your case was dismissed by traffic school. Can an insurance company raise your rates because they know you went to traffic school? NOPE. Can a FUTURE insurance company penalize you for this? Maybe. But it's still a good idea to go and keep the points off your record. Too many points cause licenses to be revoked.