I hate to break it to you, but even the best online traffic schools in California suck. Don’t get me wrong – it beats the hell out of sitting in a classroom, but nobody takes online traffic school by choice. For 99% of you, it’s a necessary evil.
There are two reasons people take an online traffic school in California. The first and most common reason is to dismiss a traffic ticket or reduce points on your driving record. The other reason is to get an insurance discount. Whatever your reason is, I’m here to make it fast, easy, and relatively painless. Let’s get this over with.
Quick & Dirty List Of The Top 5 Best Online Traffic Schools In California For 2023
Here are the 5 best online traffic schools in California for 2023. I will give more detailed explanations of why these are the 5 best traffic schools to sign up for below, but if you just want the 5 best options, here you go.
It doesn’t really matter which one of these you sign up for, just stick to one of these online traffic schools and you’ll be in good shape…
Go To Traffic School – Fast, easy, and one of California’s most reliable go-to traffic schools.
Best Online Traffic School – New, credible, and totally risk-free as you only pay when you take the final exam.
Aceable – Most modern online traffic school in California and works the best on mobile-devices.
Improv Traffic School – Most entertaining online traffic school run by comedians from the Improv Comedy Club.
iDriveSafely.com – Considered one of the easiest online traffic school courses in California.
What’s So Special About Those Online Traffic Schools?
Get this… There are literally 1,446 state-approved California online traffic schools to choose from. I’m not kidding. You can see for yourself right on the California DMV website.
Insanity, right?
And let me tell you, the VAST majority of those online traffic schools are horrible. They don’t work well on mobile devices (if at all), they were built in the very early 2000s, they crash, customer service is almost non-existent, and a whole list of other problems with them.
Taking a random online traffic school is a bad idea. Maybe you’ll get lucky, but chances are you’ll end up signing up for a course that takes you longer, costs you more, and is a bigger pain in the ass than it needs to be.
Ummm Ok…. But What’s So Special About Those Online Traffic Schools?
The traffic schools I listed above are in fact the 5 best online traffic schools in California. Why? Simple.
They are the least painful options. I’m not going to pretend they are fun, interesting, or a great way to spend your time, but the 5 schools I listed are the fastest, easiest, and most pain-free traffic schools available in California. They all include the following…
- Lowest price guarantees
- No course timers & fastest allowed by law
- Guaranteed to pass
- Easy-to-pass quizzes
- Mobile-friendly
- Good customer service
- Positive reviews & reputation
- State-approved for every county & court in California
- Updated and modern
Even now, in 2023, there are very few online traffic schools in California that meet all of these criteria.
But how am I privy to this info? Because I was in the online driving school “industry” (if you can call it that) for over 10 years. I’ve helped to create everything from online driver’s education programs to commercial driver’s license courses. I have personally gone through a huge number of online traffic schools in California for professional purposes, so believe me, I know what I’m talking about.
How To Find The Best Online Traffic Schools In California On Your Own
With over 1,400 online traffic schools approved in California, I don’t expect you to just take my word for which online traffic schools are best. So, here is what you should look for when researching the best online traffic schools in California.
- Check the California DMV to make sure the traffic school you want to sign up for is state-approved.
- Compare prices. The best online traffic schools in California should have a lowest price guarantee, and you should hold them to that! Prices change all the time and there is no set standard price, so shop around.
- If you plan on taking your traffic school from a phone or tablet, make sure it works well on mobile devices. They should specifically advertise that fact. Believe it or not, there are still some online traffic schools in California that are terrible on phones and tablets.
- Don’t sign up for a 100% video course. In California, course timers are not required, but some old outdated traffic schools still use them. An online traffic school without course timers can save your hours.
- Watch for hidden fees. Online traffic schools in California are notorious for having hidden fees at the end of the course. For instance, they may have “rush processing” that can cost $20 or more if you’ve procrastinated and need to notify the courts quickly.
Best California Online Traffic School Reviews For 2023
In the list quick list above, you saw who I believe are the 5 best online traffic schools in California for 2023, but I didn’t give you much information about them. Here is some additional info about each school so you can make an informed decision on which course is best for you. Again, it doesn’t really matter which one of these online traffic schools you go with. They will all work just fine.
1. Go To Traffic School
Go To Traffic School is my pick for the best online traffic school in California for 2023. Admittedly, in recent years I have not really liked Go To Traffic School. That’s because Go To Traffic School was getting severely outdated. The only real advantage to them is that they were cheap.
Now, I’m not going to claim this is the most modern online traffic school in California, but they improved their course enough to make them the absolute best bang for your buck.
Some of the videos are still a bit old, but in my experience, Go To Traffic School is now the fastest online traffic school in California and they guarantee to be the lowest price as well. The course works great on mobile-devices, the quizzes seem easier to pass than any other school (you have to retake them if you fail which costs you time), and they have been used by literally millions of drivers. There isn’t much not to like.
Check Current Prices For Go To Traffic School Here
2. Best Online Traffic School
Do you want something new? Try the Best Online Traffic School. It hasn’t been around for too long, but it has quickly established itself as an equally credible and reliable online traffic school. It provides students with an up-to-date curriculum, categorized into twelve different modules. Moreover, the Best Online Traffic School offers the entire course in various languages, including Spanish and Chinese. You may even choose between reading or listening to the course, making it a more ideal integration for students with jam-packed schedules.
The Best Online Traffic School also offers 24/7 Live Chat Support! Students may receive technical and educational assistance at all hours of the night. However, some students may run into delays due to translation issues. Still, it’s a small price to pay for round-the-clock help.
And the best part? I already hinted at this at the start. But, with the Best Online Traffic School, you don’t have to give your credit card details to begin. No, you can go through the whole course without paying a single dollar. So it’s for free? In a way, yes. However, if you want to take the final exam and get your certificate of completion, you’ll need to pay the $19.99 fee.
Check Current Prices For Best Online Traffic School Here
3. Aceable
If you want something a bit more modern, Aceable is who you should consider. In fact, I’d recommend this as the best online traffic school for anyone who wants to take most or all of the course from their phone or tablet. Aceable has dedicated apps for iPhone and Android devices, and they work better than any other online traffic school in California.
Aceable is actually the most recent online traffic school approved in the state of California. Some might consider that to be a negative, but they’ve been around for several years so they’ve established a good reputation (just look at their reviews on the app store).
The biggest problem with online traffic schools in California is how outdated they are. Most of them were created 2 decades ago and hardly updated at all. Aceable, on the other hand, was just built a few years ago and has been updated just about every year since. I think Aceable is a great option in 2023.
Check Current Prices For Aceable Here
4. Improv Traffic School
Improv Traffic School is without a doubt the most entertaining online traffic school in California. It’s fast, easy, and cheap like the other options here, but what sets Improv Traffic School apart from the rest is their comedy based approach.
Improv Traffic School was started by comedians from the Improv Comedy Club. They initially had comedians as instructors for classroom-based traffic schools back in the 90’s. In the early 2000s, they brought that same approach online.
Not everyone shares my goofy sense of humor, and I admit the comedy used at Improv Traffic School is more of a “slapstick” style of comedy, but if you’re going to spend time going through traffic school, it might as well be entertaining, right?
Check Current Prices For Improv Traffic School Here
With over 6 million tickets addressed, iDriveSafely.com is undoubtedly one of the most trusted online traffic schools in the US. It is approved in more states than most providers and is chosen by many due to its fast and easy courses.
iDriveSafely.com offers the shortest course allowed by law. The course is designed to be 6-hours worth of learning. However, California does not require timers, so you can blast through the pages and finish as fast as you want. Apart from the final exam, the course has 6 chapter quizzes in total, and you can take them as many times as you need.
iDriveSafely.com also lets you easily choose between its text-based and full video courses. The former is pretty boring, but let’s face it, most traffic school courses are. If you prefer more multimedia content, you can opt for the full video course. In my opinion, though, the text-based option is easier to fly through.
How Long Does California Online Traffic School Take?
If you take traffic school the old-fashioned way in a classroom, it will take you 6-8 hours. Brutal, right?
Online traffic schools can fulfill your 6-8-hour traffic school requirement, but it won’t take you nearly that long. Most people can finish an online California traffic school course in as little as a couple of hours.
In most states, there are course timers on each page, so a 6-8 hour course would be timed to actually take that many hours. Fortunately, that’s not always the case for online schools in California. You can get it done faster.
Because online traffic school courses are self-paced, you have complete control over your time. You can go over the materials as quickly or as slowly as you like.
How Often Can I Take Traffic School In California?
You will likely be notified by a court if you are eligible to dismiss a traffic ticket by taking traffic school. Alternatively, you can reduce the number of points on your driving record every 18 months. Every other year, you may reduce the number of points on your driving record by 1.
You should also talk to your auto insurance provider. In many cases, they will give you a discount for going through an online traffic school, which normally gives you a discount for 5 years. This is especially true for mature drivers.
Which Violations Can Be Dismissed With An Online Traffic School In California?
In general, low-level moving violations can be dismissed by taking an online traffic school in California. You can’t use a traffic school to dismiss DUIs, criminal misdemeanors/felonies, or petty violations like parking tickets.
Online traffic school will usually not only remove points from your license but also keep your insurance rates lower, as having points on your record can really increase premiums that can last up to ten years. The cost of traffic school is low enough that taking traffic school to keep your record clean is almost always a good idea, even though it isn’t fun.Is An Online Traffic School In California Better Than A Classroom-Based Course?
Everyone has their preferences, of course, and this really comes down to opinion. But I don’t know why anyone would want to take a traditional traffic school in a classroom overtaking an online traffic school.
Online traffic schools are cheaper, faster, and more convenient. I can’t really think of one good reason why a classroom-based traffic school is better unless you just have no self-motivation and need someone to force you to get the course done, even if that means sitting in a classroom for a longer period of time.
By taking an online traffic school course instead of in-person classes, in a way, you are also helping the environment. Not only will your studying be completely paperless, but you also get to skip commuting. You get to reduce your carbon footprint by going on fewer drives.
You didn’t think learning online would make such a huge impact, did you?
All in all, for the vast majority of us, signing up for the best online traffic school in California is the way to go.