Defensive Driving Online Course Reviews: TrafficSchool101.com

My defensive driving online course reviews continue after I took and completed the TrafficSchool101.com course (also known as Traffic101.com or Traffic101). I've gotta say, I thought the iDriveSafely driving school could never be beat. But this one was pretty damn good. Granted, I could think of better things to do with my time and it's still pretty boring, but if you are taking the online driving school for insurance reduction or ticket dismissal, this is one of the more pain free ways to do it.

The Traffic School 101 Defensive Driving Online Course Overview

As usual, and since I live such a crazy thrilling life, I went way overboard with my review of this online driving school. So, here is a quick summary...

Overall, Traffic101.com is a totally legitimate driving school for ticket dismissal and insurance reduction. They have been around since 2001 so they are well established and have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. This online driving school is not a scam and they are clearly serious about becoming a leader in this business. It's safe to say, Traffic School 101 is officially tied with iDriveSafely as my favorite online driving school for getting a ticket dismissed.

That said, is it boring? Yup! It sure is! Look, you're taking traffic school and even online traffic school sucks. But you can do it at your own pace and you don't have to spend a Saturday in a classroom, so it's a fair compromise.

Pros:

Chances are you're not taking the course by choice, but here are some of the positives:

• You can take the course without paying for it until the very end. A "try before you buy" kinda thing. You need to enter payment information 1/4 of the way through, but you're not charged till you're done.


• While the course is timed in most court jurisdictions, you can zip through quite a bit then just wait for the clock to catch up. Most courses you have to wait to proceed on each individual page. Very annoying.


• A recent improvement for this school - Start and stop the course whenever you want. They'll keep track of your progress for you. This is a huge feature that not all schools have.


• While I didn't personally use it, customer service is available all day and night, every day of the year.


• Verification that your specific court accepts their online course BEFORE you register and take the course.
• Fastest certificate processing in the defensive driving online course industry. If you're in a time pinch, this is the best school.


• 100% pass rate. Nobody fails this course. Just retake the final exam if needed.


• Every 100th customer gets the course for free! That's cool, good luck!


• Most of their ticket dismissal courses will also make you eligible for insurance rate reductions (and you thought your insurance would go up!).

Check out their website and get 5% off by using this link

Cons:

Aside from the fact that taking any sort of traffic school, online or off, is time consuming and kinda boring, here are some of the negatives I found with this defensive driving online course.

• Anyway you slice it, this is still traffic school and is pretty boring.


• Authentication Requirements - Some court jurisdictions require some form of authentication to make sure you are really the one taking the course. It can get annoying.


• Depending on the district you live in, the course might be on a timer. That means you can't zip right through it, you have to go at a predetermined pace. Blah.


• This course is generally about 5 to 10 bucks more expensive that other online driving courses. Using this link will help with a 5% discount.


• Expedited shipping costs extra, like most defensive driving online course programs. But they'll inform you how to get an extension from the court if you need extra time (in most courts).


• Lots of reading. Trust me, just skim it. You don't have to read every word to pass the quizzes / final exam. Play a video game if you have to wait for the timer.

Click here to sign up and get a 5% discount

How long it takes:

Plan on a minimum of 3.5hrs for this defensive driving online course. Some people have reported it takes longer as they have a timer that slows them down, while others report their course wasn't timed and they got through it very quickly. That's sort of "luck of the draw" depending on where you live and what the courts require.

Course difficulty: Easy

I have yet to find a course that is real difficult. It's just a bit boring. Ok, it's really boring, but they all are. Like all other online traffic schools, just use your common sense. You can't fail the course anyway. You might have to retake a quiz or the final exam, but you can't fail it. My advice? Don't give it 110%. Give it more like...35% of your effort. I bet you'll still pass with no problems.

Full review

Still reading? Wow, you're really doing your research! Alright, here's the full review.

Sign up

A quick form, maybe some "security questions" depending on where you live, and you're good to go. When you select your state, it'll ask for your court district and "docket number" or "citation number" (should be on your ticket). Then, you'll be told if the course is certified and approved for your court district or not. That way you don't take the course for nothing!

I had some trouble logging in after I signed up. Seems there's a bit of a delay. Just give it 5 minutes or so and try logging in again. It should work.

Taking the course

Unlike some other schools, this course have very few sections. This is good and bad. It's good because you can quickly go through the entire section, then go do something else while the "timer" catches up. Then come back and do it all over again for the next section. It's bad because progress seems to go really slow with the longer sections. It can get a bit boring and there's a lot of text, but that's to be expected. It is traffic school after all!

After each section, you need to take a quiz. Pay attention to the questions and answers. You're bound to see the exact same, or very similar questions on the final exam. So try to pay attention during the quizzes. It actually is important. They aren't too hard though.

Starting and stopping the course

They made this pretty simple. Just quit at any time and when you come back, you can pick up where you left off. Not real complicated.

Waiting for the timer

As I said earlier, some court districts require a timer on the defensive driving online course. That means you might have to actually take it over a 6 or 8 hour period. Yuck. Luckily, this course allows you to get pretty far ahead, then wait for the timer to catch up. That, to me, is a great time to go watch some TV, do the laundry, or get something else done. They don't handcuff you to the computer or anything!

The final exam

Like every other defensive driving online course, you need to take a final exam. This will go over all of the previous sections. Many of the questions you will have seen before. I passed it on the first try and needed an 80% (some places you only need a 70%). If you fail it, just take it again. If you fail it a second time, take it a second time. If you fail it a third time... well, you get the idea. Just keep taking it until you pass.

Receiving credit and notifying the courts

Once you pass, they will process your certificate the same day. Most schools aren't that quick about it. They'll either notify the court directly via fax / email / electronic submission, or mail the certificate standard mail for free. You can also have it sent to you if you want to send it to the court yourself or have a copy. If you need expedited shipping (some states require you use snail mail), they have that available, but charge for it. You're better off just asking the court for an extension as most will give you one with no questions asked.

Conclusion

Chances are, the only reason you're signing up for this defensive driving online course is for ticket dismissal or insurance reduction. I'm not here to tell you it's the most fun thing in the world to do. But I will tell you that it's a great online driving school. With so many scam sites and low quality driving schools around, it's nice to find a company who is serious about this and provides a high quality program. Hands down, Traffic101.com is one of the best online driving schools on the web and is tied as my favorite with iDriveSafely.

Click here to visit the Traffic Website
(NOTE: Link includes a coupon code.)

Check out my driving school directory for more reviews

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