Fight the Ticket or Take Traffic School? Can You Still Get Traffic School If You Lose?

Many drivers think they have to choose: contest the ticket, or give up and take traffic school. California’s Rules of Court say going to trial does not by itself take traffic school off the table. What changes is who decides.

What Traffic School Does

Traffic school keeps a one-point conviction confidential if the court finds you eligible. It is allowed once in any 18 months, and not for commercial driver’s license holders, violations in a commercial vehicle, or violations worth more than one point (Vehicle Code 1808.7 and 42005). The court collects a fee equal to the full bail, plus a $49 fee and smaller added fees (Vehicle Code 42007 and 42007.1), and the traffic school charges separately for the course.

Traffic school does not contest the ticket. You still have a conviction; it is kept confidential so the point is not counted. Not finishing by the court’s deadline adds the point.

What Contesting Does

Contesting means asking for a trial: a trial by written declaration by mail (Vehicle Code 40902) or a trial in court. If you are found not guilty or the case is dismissed, there is no conviction and no point. In most courts you deposit the bail amount when you ask for a trial by written declaration, and it is refunded if you are found not guilty or the charge is dismissed.

Can You Still Get Traffic School If You Lose?

Rule 4.104 of the California Rules of Court answers this directly. A defendant who is otherwise eligible for traffic school “is not made ineligible by entering a plea other than guilty or by exercising his or her right to trial.” The rule adds that a traffic school request must be considered based on the individual circumstances of the specific case, and that the court is not required to state a reason for granting or denying it.

The same rule says a judicial officer may, in their discretion, order traffic school in an individual case as permitted under Vehicle Code 41501(a) or 42005. The comment to the rule explains that a court has discretion to grant it or not, but may not arbitrarily refuse to consider a request because a defendant pleaded not guilty. So asking after a guilty finding is allowed, and the answer is the judge’s.

Contesting is not risk-free. If the judge finds you guilty, you have the same conviction and the same DMV points as if you had paid, and your bail deposit is applied to the fine, but the judge can set a fine higher or lower than the bail. Going to trial does not make you ineligible for traffic school, but after a guilty finding it is up to the judge.

The eligibility limits still apply. A court clerk cannot grant traffic school for a violation worth more than one point, a violation within 18 months of an earlier one for which you attended or chose traffic school, a speeding violation more than 25 mph over the limit, or a violation in a commercial vehicle (rule 4.104(b)), among others.

How to Choose

• If you believe you did not commit the violation, or the facts on the ticket are wrong, contesting is the one of these two choices that can end with no conviction at all.
• If you are eligible for traffic school and keeping the point confidential matters most to you, traffic school does that without a trial, as long as you finish on time.
• If you contest and lose, you can still ask the judge for traffic school, but it is not automatic, and the fine can be higher or lower than the bail.
• Either way, act by the date on your ticket or courtesy notice.

When a written declaration is worth it, and when it is not: Is Trial by Written Declaration Worth It? →

Who qualifies for traffic school, violation by violation: Traffic School Eligibility in California →

What a guilty finding means and what you can do next: What Happens If You Lose →