Tickets and Traffic School

In many states, a ticket never appears on your official driving record until after you’re given the opportunity to appeal it or expunge it permanently by attending traffic school.  Some states do not offer this option; check with your state DMV or county court system for details on how traffic school applies to you.

If you're allowed to attend traffic school to dismiss a ticket, the DMV will usually remove the ticket from their own records within 30 days after you finish traffic school. The point of enrolling in traffic school is so that you can prevent a citation from ever appearing on your driving record. Once a ticket goes on your record, you can face a license suspension or higher insurance premiums if you incur more tickets. The idea is you want to get rid of the ticket before it ever appears on your record.

The Ticket is Invisible

When you are allowed to sign up for traffic school, the ticket hasn’t yet appeared on your official driving record. What this means is your employer, an insurance company, or anyone else would not be able to see that you’ve received the ticket. As long as you successfully complete traffic school within the allotted period of time, the ticket will be officially expunged.

What this means is a little complicated. The DMV (or sometimes the traffic court) will usually expunge the citation within 30 days and make sure it never appears on your driving record. However, the DMV continues to maintain some kind of record of the account. For example, they will still have records confirming that you attended traffic school for the violation.

Order a Driving Record

If you want to check to make sure a ticket has been removed from your driving record, take a moment now and order yours. Obtaining a driving record online is the fastest and easiest way to get your information.