Driving safety courses—also known as defensive driving or traffic school—are designed to improve a driver’s knowledge, awareness, and attitude toward driving a motor vehicle. Laws vary from state to state but in many states a driver who has been issued a traffic ticket or citation may have the ticket or citation dismissed upon successful completion of a driving safety course—whether online or in person.
In Arizona, driving safety courses, commonly referred to as defensive driving schools, are regulated by the state and can be taken for certain eligible traffic violations to dismiss the ticket and avoid having points assessed on a driver's license. To qualify for ticket dismissal, the violation must be for a civil traffic moving violation, and the driver must not have attended a defensive driving course for an eligible traffic citation within the past 12 months. The course must be completed at least 7 days prior to the court appearance date. Both online and in-person options are available, and they must be approved by the Arizona Supreme Court. Upon successful completion of the course, the citation is dismissed, no points are added to the driver's record, and the violation does not impact the driver's insurance rates. However, if the driver holds a commercial driver's license or the violation occurred in a commercial vehicle, they are not eligible for this program.