California Traffic Safety Institute (CTSI) is a non-profit company, which has been providing staffing and other services to the California Superior Courts in the administration of the traffic violation school programs since June 27, 1985.
CTSI operates under the legislative authority of CVC 11205 as amended in September 1991.
Pursuant to AB2499, which was passed in the 2009-2010 legislative session, effective July 1, 2011, traffic violations where a defendant has elected or been ordered to attend a traffic violator school (TVS) will no longer be a dismissal on the driving record. They will now become a confidential conviction.
A confidential conviction will mask the violation from your public record. Insurance companies will not see the confidential conviction.
A traffic violator school conviction will not be masked if:
- There is a successful TVS completion within the previous 18 months.
- The conviction is a major (2 point) violation (DUI or Reckless Driving).
- The driver was operating a commercial vehicle at the time of the violation.
- A Class A or B licensee operating a non-commercial vehicle (0 points displayed).
Important Traffic School Attendance Information:
A court may refer a driver to traffic violator school at any time. However, California Vehicle Code Section 1808.7 mandates that only one conviction in an eighteen (18) month period be masked from public view on your driving record. The eighteen (18) month period is calculated from citation/violation date, not class attendance date. Courts are required to adjudicate all major (2 point) violations; courts are prohibited from sending drivers who commit major violations to traffic violator schools for the purpose of masking a conviction.
If you need an extension of time, please contact the court which imposed the sentence; CTSI has no authority to grant extensions. You may attend any traffic violator school with a valid license status listed on the DMV’s web-site. When you have completed the course, the school will issue you a receipt and the school will file the completion certificate electronically.
Benefits of Attending Traffic Violator School:
NOTICE: If you are eligible and decide not to attend traffic school your automobile insurance may be adversely affected. The citation will also go on your record and reflect the point count that goes along with the violation.
11/21/2022 Sacramento – The young faces of the families of highway workers are reminding you to move over a lane or slow down for their loved ones who help keep our roads safe. The “Kids of Caltrans” provide the personal, impactful messages behind the new public awareness campaign from the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in partnership with the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and the California Highway Patrol (CHP), that kicked off today at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center.
Some of the children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews of Caltrans workers featured in the “Move Over” campaign were on hand for the kickoff event, which comes on the heels of last week’s National Crash Responder Safety Week. In video messages that will air throughout the state through January 2023, they ask drivers to be alert and move over a lane if safe to do so or slow down to safely pass highway workers.
Sadly, highway workers, law enforcement officers, emergency personnel and tow truck drivers are killed or injured along California’s roadways every year.
Moving over and slowing down when passing a vehicle stopped on the roadway with flashing lights in California isn’t just a matter of following the law—it is about saving lives. The “Move Over” law exists to provide a safer environment for maintenance and emergency vehicles stopped along roadsides close to fast-moving traffic.
In 2020, nearly 7,000 work-zone crashes occurred on California roadways, resulting in more than 3,000 injuries and nearly 100 fatalities. Nationally, drivers and passengers account for 85% of those killed in work zones.
Although all 50 states have enacted “Move Over” laws, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that 71% of Americans are not aware of them. In California, failure to obey the “Move Over” law can result in fines up to $1,000, plus points on your driving record.
Since 1921, 191 Caltrans employees have been killed on the job, and one of the biggest hazards to them and anyone working on the roads is from motorists who do not exercise caution. Those 191 employees represent scores of families torn apart by preventable work zone collisions.
