Traffic school: online or in person?
My friends and colleagues have been urging me to take traffic school online ever since I put out a request for suggestions on whether to go in person or complete the class by computer. Online seems so much easier, but I opted today for the in-person version. I'm a bit paranoid about the class being screwed up online through operator error or some other computer glitch.
I got caught by radar several weeks ago going too fast on Shaw near Cornelia. My bad. Even the motorcycle officer said I should do traffic school online. Much easier, he advised.
But I thought what better way to spend the Saturday of a three-day weekend than in an all-day traffic school? So I was at the the Central California Driving and Traffic School on Bullard near First Street a few minutes before 8 a.m.today beginning my penance. After the seven-hour class, I had my certificate to prevent my insurance company from raising my rates for this violation.
Of the 26 in the class, 19 of them were there for speeding. Obviously, there are a lot of us who needed a reminder to slow down.
I won't sugar coat this day. The class was long and tiring, but it was a worthwhile experience, at least I can say that now that's over. It surely didn't hurt me to get a refresher course on defensive driving, dealing with the growing number of road-ragers on our streets and highways and the latest traffic laws. We even got a lesson on using anti-lock brakes in emergency situations.
The instructor, Wayne Scott, looks like Abraham Lincoln, so much so that he portrays him at Civil War events around the country. He's also a former Salinas police officer, and knows his stuff. His lecture was filled with entertaining stories delivered with a nice sense of humor.
So tell me about your traffic school experiences. Did you do it online or in person?
Comments
"This is America and we have the constitutional right to drive as fast as we darned well please..."
(Jim Boren, "Would it save gas to slow down?")
We, now know of at least 19 (individuals) who must have read the Article on the use of multi-stroke gasoline engines; and on ones sacred honor; to read speed limit signs......
As admonished, I looked it up.......
Posted by: Isabell Lawson | July 5, 2008 5:48 PM
Online traffic school is a joke. The questions and time ticker are laughable at best. No one I know takes it seriously.
Kudos to you, Jim, for getting out and attending a class with real people. We should all opt for real, in-person experiences as much as possible.
But here's the real question: What were the other seven drivers in for, if it wasn't speeding? Now that's the story!
Posted by: Jeffresno | July 5, 2008 6:56 PM
Updated post:
Jeffresno. . . The other seven in traffic school were there for a variety of driving infractions, including not stopping completely when making a right turn on a red light; not properly yielding the right of way to another motorist; running a red light. Interestingly, almost all the men were there for speeding, and almost all the women were there for some other infraction, although there were some women speeders.
I withdrew the part of this comment in regards to Isabell's not getting my satire. She got it, but I didn't get her satire in response. My mistake, and not Isabell's.
Posted by: Jim Boren | July 5, 2008 7:37 PM
I have done both. In person 14 yrs ago and online 3 years ago both for speeding my bad double time. The in person one was long and boring but informative to refresh why there are laws. When calculated you wont arrive at your destination much sooner by speeding and perhaps not at all. The online was nice cause I could do it in my own time. They try to trip you up by throwing in stupid questions just to see if you are really reading it before taking the quiz. I printed it out, read it then took the quiz.
Posted by: Jackie Krage | July 5, 2008 9:55 PM
We, senior discount candidates, drive a Lincoln Town Car tank because it can withstand a bit of getting hit. So far it happened only in store parking lots, and invariably it was a woman who hit us backing out of
her parking spot.
The invitation for drivers to share traffic school experiences, could easily make this the longest BLOG ever.......
Posted by: Isabell Lawson | July 5, 2008 11:53 PM
There was no post since July 5, which tends to indicate that confession being good for the soul is overrated.
The challenge to comment on ones own traffic school experience was met by only
one brave female.
Posted by: Isabell Lawson | July 9, 2008 5:41 PM
Online traffic schools are the best way to get the information needed and get the course done on your own time frame. I do think 19 people with speeding tickets shows we are all in a hurry. I think sooner or later speeding will get you involved in an accident or cause an accident. I think that online traffic schools are a great innovation for time strapped consumers.
Posted by: Traffic School Maven | July 21, 2008 11:18 AM