Tennessee Traffic School, Defensive Driving and Your Points

Before you pay: can traffic school keep the ticket off your record?

Sometimes, and it is the court's call. Section 55-10-301 of the state code sets up a class of four or more hours for people cited for minor offenses, and courts choose who may take it. Nothing gives you a statewide right to it, so it comes down to the city or general sessions court that has your case.

Jackson's city court shows what this looks like in practice. Its clerk says the request has to be made in person to the judge when your case is called, that the judge usually says no if you were cited within the past year, and that the class the court uses, from the National Safety Council, is $50. The fine is still owed, but the ticket is never sent to Nashville and stays off your driving record.

Every other court writes its own eligibility rules, fees and list of schools. Call the clerk of the court printed on your ticket before the response date. Letting that date slip can bring a contempt finding and a suspended license.

After a speeding conviction: the 4 hour point removal course

If the speeding conviction is already on your record, you can still take an approved Driver Education Course and have up to 5 of its points taken away. The conviction stays; the points go.

The clock is 90 days from the conviction date, and you get this once in any four year span. The school must report your completion to the Department within 30 days, electronically or by mailing it to the state.

A worked example: you are convicted of going 20 over on April 1, which the schedule rates at 4 points. Finish an approved course by about June 30 and those 4 points can come off. Get another speeding ticket two years later, and you cannot use the course again until four years have passed.

• Only speeding convictions qualify, not other moving violations
• As many as 5 points come off, but the conviction stays
• The school must appear on the Department's approved list
• Usable once every four years

How points build up

The Department scores moving violations and crashes under the Driver Improvement Program rules in Chapter 1340-01-04. For speeding in a regular passenger vehicle the schedule reads: 1 point at 1 to 5 over, 3 points at 6 to 15 over, 4 at 16 to 25, 5 at 26 to 35, 6 at 36 to 45, and 8 at 46 and above. Work zone speeding scores higher, careless driving is 4 and reckless driving is 6.

Collect 6 to 11 points in a year and you may get a caution letter, which the rules allow only once per five years. Reach 12 in any 12 month span and a proposed suspension notice arrives with the right to an administrative hearing. Do not ask for one and the suspension lasts six to 12 months.

Some values catch people off guard. For adults, a hand held phone or texting violation is 3 points; for a driver under 18 a phone violation is 6. Going around a stopped school or church bus is 8. Not having your license on you is 2. Crashes count as well: 3 for property damage, 4 with an injury and 8 when someone dies.

Old points drop out. Under the Driver Improvement rules, a conviction more than two years old when the Department got the report is not counted, and each time something new posts the system checks the past 24 months for any 12 month window with 12 points. Three or more avoidable crashes within a year can also bring a proposed suspension with fewer than 12 points.

If you hit 12 points: the 8 hour class in place of suspension

Most drivers who ask for a hearing are offered a defensive driving class instead of the suspension, or to shorten it. You have 90 days from the suspension letter to finish, and this credit is available once every five years.

First offenders with 12 to 20 points may skip the hearing and go straight to the class. A first offender over 20 points does not get that option; a hearing follows, and the suspension could be six months or a year. Once you complete the class you serve 12 months of probation, and a new violation in that year can cost you the probation.

A written extension request is possible, but it must be received 10 or more days before the 90 days run out, and the Department judges whether you have good cause. If the certificate has not arrived by day 75, the Department sends a warning, then suspends for six months.

Picking a provider: online, classroom or live stream

The Department does not run the classes. It keeps one list of approved 4 hour providers for court orders and point removal, covering online, classroom and live stream choices, and a separate list of schools approved for 8 hour Driver Improvement referrals.

The 8 hour class may now be taken by live stream. Send its certificate by email to [email protected], or post it to the Driver Improvement Section at P.O. Box 25290, Nashville, TN 37202-5290. For 4 hour schools, the Department requires at least four hours of teaching, a yearly certification renewal, and a curriculum at or above AAA or National Safety Council standards.

When the order comes from a judge or a letter

A judge can make a 4 or 8 hour Driver Education Course part of your sentence, or the Department can send a letter telling you to take one. Either way you pick a school from the approved list and register with it yourself.

Send the certificate to the referring court if a judge ordered it. If the letter came from the Financial Responsibility Division, the certificate goes to their mailbox, P.O. Box 945 in Nashville (ZIP 37202); phone (866) 903-7357 with any questions about the letter.

How the clerk reports the case is important. According to MTAS, the University of Tennessee's advisory service for cities, a judge who uses traffic school to head off a conviction will have the clerk report just the course, and only after you complete it. Miss the completion date the judge set and the case turns into a reported conviction. A judge may also let a first time hands free law offender take a driver improvement course instead of paying the fine.

Teen drivers: a lower threshold

For drivers under 18 the bar is far lower. Six points in 12 months puts a teen into the Driver Improvement Program, with a hearing a parent or guardian must attend.

Six to nine points can mean 3 to 6 months without a license plus a defensive driving class to finish inside 90 days. Ten or more means six months off the road, and a repeat offense within a year means six months or a full year. Getting the license back takes proof of insurance, the finished course and the reinstatement fees.

Limits, CDL holders and insurance

The point removal course covers speeding only, one conviction in four years, and the conviction itself stays put. A court ordered class only works when the school is on the state list and the judge is happy with how it is delivered. CDL holders should check with the court before counting on traffic school, since federal rules restrict how courts handle commercial drivers' convictions.

The Department of Safety sets no required insurance discount for defensive driving, older drivers included. If a smaller premium is the goal, ask your insurer which courses it honors before you pay.

If something goes wrong: paying, missing court, appealing

If your ticket does not say you must appear, you can usually pay before the date printed on it. Paying is a guilty plea, though, and the points come with it. Lost the ticket? Phone the court clerk where the stop happened, city or county, to get the ticket number, what you owe and whether there is a court date.

Do not let the date pass. T.C.A. 55-50-502 lets the Department suspend your license once a court reports that you did not appear or satisfy a citation, and the judge will usually convict you by default as well. Living in another state does not protect you, because Tennessee shares these reports with most states.

If a general sessions court convicts you, you have ten days after the judgment to appeal to circuit court, under T.C.A. 27-5-108. CDL holders face tighter rules: federal law forbids courts from masking their convictions through diversion, and any conviction in any vehicle has to be reported to the employer in writing within 30 days.