Will my insurance go up if I attend traffic safety school?

Just received a Courtesy Notice from the court for a traffic violation (22349B) while driving in San Diego. Do I have to pay my ticket and attend traffic school?

• I received a ticket for speeding in California. My Courtesy Notice says that I have three options: pay my ticket ($239.00), go to traffic school ($291.00 plus traffic school fees), or plead not guilty. What I'm confused about is whether I can simply pay my ticket and not go to traffic school, or whether that's inadvisable (the notice says that if I'm eligible--and I am--and I choose not to attend school, my insurance may be adversely affected). OR, if I choose to go to traffic school, is the ticket fee waived? Really confused about the language, would appreciate any clarification. Thank you!

• Answer:

  whether I can simply pay my ticket and not go to traffic school You can. That's the $239 case. whether that's inadvisable That's the question. It's more expensive and more hassle, but it keeps the violation hidden from the record that people can see, so that your insurance company won't know about it. If your insurance company sees that you have a violation with a point, it will probably affect your insurance rate. Note that you can only keep one ticket hidden in this way every 18 months. if I choose to go to traffic school, is the ticket fee waived? Well, you pay the fine of the ticket, plus the "go to traffic school" fee. That's why it costs more -- the $291 contains the $239 fine, plus an additional $52 fee to let you go to traffic school. (And that's not even counting the price you have to pay to the traffic school.) With any traffic ticket in California, my recommendation is always to plead not guilty and do Trial by Written Declaration. There's a good chance of winning in Trial by Written Declaration, and if you lose the Trial by Written Declaration, you can get a new trial in court to argue it over again.