This traffic school course is intended to give participants an understanding of traffic safety by emphasizing not only traffic laws, but also driver responsibility and proper driving attitudes.

This course is based on driving laws from the California Vehicle Code (CVC), State of California, 2002 California Driver Handbook (CDH), California Highway Patrol Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) 1999 Annual Report of Fatal and Injury Motor Vehicle Traffic Collisions, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Safety Counsel 2000.

Traffic laws are written to ensure the safety of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.  When you violate traffic laws, you increase your chances of having an accident and injuring yourself or others.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) keeps a record of all of your traffic convictions and accidents.  These violations are recorded in the form of "points" on your driving record, and will remain there for 36 or more months, depending on the violation.  Points are assessed as follows:

One point is charged against your license for:

	Driving unsafely.
	Any "at fault" accident.
	Failure to transport, or permit to be transported, on a highway any child under 16 years of age, in a motor vehicle, without providing and properly securing in an appropriate child restraint system or safety belt meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, or if child is under the age of six regardless of weight, or weighing less than 60 pounds, regardless of age, in a motor vehicle, without providing and properly securing the child in a child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards.

One-point violations stay on your record for 36 months.

Two points are charged against you if you are convicted of:

	Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs
	Reckless driving
	Hit-and-run driving
	Causing property damage by hit-and-run driving
	Evading a police officer (Fleeing a police officer now carries a minimum sentence of 6 months in jail.)
	Driving with a suspended or revoked license
	Driving on the wrong side of the road
	"Drag Racing" or other speed contests
	Vehicular manslaughter
	Illegally transporting explosives

Two-point violations stay on your record for seven years, except for drunk driving (DUI) which stays on your license for ten years.

If you get too many points you may be considered a Negligent Operator and  you may lose your driver's license.   Because drivers with several traffic convictions are much more likely to be involved in an accident, public safety demands that restrictions be placed on their driving privileges. 

You may be considered a Negligent Operator once you reach any of the following point counts:

	4 points in 12 months
	6 points in 24 months
	8 points in 36 months

If you are convicted of a speeding violation or reckless driving, a judge may suspend your license for up to 30 days on the first conviction, sixty days on the second conviction, and up to six months on the third and any subsequent convictions.

Your driver's license may also be suspended for:

	Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
	Hit-and-run
	Failure to stop at a railway crossing

Regardless of your point count, most serious offenses in which a vehicle is used are punishable by penalties including heavy fines and/or imprisonment.   These serious offenses include:

	Felony drunk driving
	Felony grand theft
	Manslaughter
	Driving under the influence of narcotics or other  drugs

The DMV is usually required to suspend or revoke the offender’s license when a driver is cited for a serious violation.

The most common one-point moving violations are:

1. Exceeding posted speed limits on the freeway
2. Violation of "Prima Facie speed limits," the mere observation of which by a police officer is usually deemed evidence of guilt:
1. 25 mph in a residential area or business area if there is no speed limit posted
2. 25 mph in a school zone
3. 15 mph at blind intersections that are not controlled by stop signs or street lights where you can’t see at least 100 feet in each direction
4. 15 mph in alleyways
5. 15 mph within 100 feet of a railway crossing
3. Illegal left or right turns
4. Failure to come to a complete stop before turning right on red
5. Failure to completely stop at a Stop sign
6. Making an illegal U-Turn in a business district, where a sign says "No U-Turn", or anywhere there is not enough visibility to safely make a U-Turn.