Can you take traffic school for parking citations?

Whether someone can take traffic school for a parking tickets is a commonly asked question – the short answer is “no.” Most traffic schools are offered only for moving violations. However, that being said, there is no reason why you cannot plead your case with the court.

When you receive a parking ticket you have two options – pay for it or contest it. However, if you choose to contest it, then should you lose, you can immediately ask the judge if you could attend traffic school instead of settling the ticket. In some instances the judge will allow you to do this – however, such a move is only recommended if the parking ticket is substantial in amount as most online or land-based traffic schools will charge you more for their courses than the cost of the average parking ticket.

The only instances where you can reasonably expect to be offered the potential of attending traffic school in order to clear your citation is if it is your first moving violation or you have not attended traffic school in less than 18 months. If you are a repeat traffic offender or you have already obtained a certificate of completion from a traffic school within the last 18 months, then you will not be able to attend another online or land-based traffic school to wipe your citation off your record.

Parking citations are among the most innocuous of traffic violations – that is unless you simply choose to ignore your ticket. If you do not pay your ticket by the deadline, then you risk incurring additional fees and will eventually have a “boot” put onto your car, which can result in more hassle than the initial ticket is worth. So, if you find yourself stuck with having to pay for a parking ticket – just do it. Contesting it is only worth it if you are guaranteed to win and ignoring it is just plain silly.

In the end, a parking citation will not even show on your permanent driving record, so creating a situation where it will  show up is certainly not the best option you have open.

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