This guide shares traffic school tips for students working with the Santa Clara Superior Court Traffic Division in Santa Clara County.
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Follow these steps to take traffic school for the Santa Clara Superior Court:
The court can tell you what you need to do to be able to go to traffic school. If this is your first ticket and the court lets you go to traffic school, you should not get any points on your record. Read the Traffic School section (http://www.courts.ca.gov/9410.htm ) to learn more. If you are unable to pay the full amount for the ticket due to financial hardship, if you appear in court you may ask the court to consider your inability to pay and reduce the fee for traffic school for the eligible offenses.
Traffic division webpages
Address:
Santa Clara Courthouse
1095 Homestead Rd.
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Click for a list of all Santa Clara Superior Court locations, phones, and hours.
Traffic division phone number:
408-556-3000 (Santa Clara courthouse)
Credit Card Payment 24/7 Phone Line: (408) 556-3000 option #5 then option #0
TDD: (408) 556-3012 (for hearing-impaired use only)
Traffic division email
Office hours:
Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Generally you can go to traffic school if:
If the court sends a courtesy notice, it will say if you are eligible for traffic school.
If you have a noncommercial driver’s license and the court permits you to attend traffic school for an eligible offense, after completion of the course a confidential conviction will be recorded on your driving record at the DMV, but you will not receive a point on your driving record. The court may approve traffic school for a driver with a commercial driver’s license if the eligible offense occurred in a noncommercial vehicle. After completion of an approved program by a driver with a commercial driver’s license, a conviction will appear on the driving record at the DMV, but a point will not appear for the offense.
Tip: Make sure your payment to the court for your violation clears before you complete your final exam. Otherwise the court may not be able to match your completion to your case.
You CANNOT go to traffic school for:
You are also NOT eligible for traffic school if you have gone to traffic school for another ticket that you got in the last 18 months.
There are other reasons you may not be eligible for traffic school. For more information on eligibility for traffic school, see the California Rules of Court, rule 4.104 (http://www.courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index.cfm?title=four&linkid=rule4_104 ) Talk to a lawyer if the court says you are not eligible for traffic school but you believe you should be.
Check your driver record with the DMV here. It's $2 per check and only the driver may check his or her California driver record. Once you have successfully paid for your record ($2.00), you will be prompted to view and print your record.
For other services and information go to the California DMV site at https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/dmv/home
Between October 1, 2015 and March 31, 2017 there is an amnesty program available for certain unpaid traffic and non-traffic infraction tickets. Visit the Traffic Amnesty Program page for more information. http://www.scscourt.org/court_divisions/traffic/amnesty.shtml
We offer our Santa Clara County California traffic school customers the best possible online learning experience. We've helped thousands Santa Clara County traffic school students since 2008. We are licensed by the California DMV as a TVS Internet school--this includes providing live and friendly customer service, easy-to-use courses, educational content, fast processing, and affordable pricing.
You can check your traffic school completion with the Santa Clara Superior Court by following these steps:
Look your case up here at the Public Access Traffic Case Information Website
Tip: Make sure your payment to the court for your violation clears before you complete your final exam. Otherwise the court may not be able to match your completion to your case.
Pay online: https://www.paybill.com/sccsuperiorcourt/
There is an extra cost of $6.45 to pay by credit/debit card or $1.95 for electronic fund transfer. [These may change at any time. Check with the court website.]
An outside drop box has been provided for your convenience, with 24/7 access.
Accoring to the Santa Clara Superior Court Traffic Division:
What if I have a financial hardship?
If you have a financial hardship and can show that you are unable to pay the full amount for the offenses on your traffic ticket, you may request the court to consider your ability to pay. However, you must appear before the court to do so. When you appear in court and plead “guilty” at arraignment, you may request that the court consider your ability to pay in reducing the fine to be paid. If you plead “not guilty,” after a trial and conviction, you may request that the court consider your ability to pay in deciding the fine ordered for the offenses. (Veh. Code, § 42003(c).) Additionally, regardless of your plea, if you are ordered to pay a fine you may ask the court for an installment payment plan that is based on your ability to pay, or ask the court to approve community service due to financial hardship (http://www.courts.ca.gov/9581.htm)
What is a court trial?
A court trial is a hearing where you appear in person to contest your citation and testify about the facts in the case. In traffic infraction cases, a judicial officer will hear your case instead of a jury. The officer who issued the citation will also be required to appear. You have the right to subpoena witnesses and to hire an attorney to appear and represent you.
How long will a court trial take?
Most trials take a very short amount of time, but you should plan to be at court for at least 2 hours on that day.
It is important to read the information on the front and back of your citation from the Santa Clara Superior Court. The front side of the citation issued to you provides you with the following information:
Santa Clara County is part of the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area. Located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay, the highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley. Santa Clara is the most populous county in the San Francisco Bay Area region, and one of the most affluent counties in the United States.
Cities and towns in Santa Clara County:
Santa Clara County was one of the original counties of California, formed in 1850 at the time of statehood. The original inhabitants included the Ohlone, residing on Coyote Creek and Calaveras Creek. Part of the county's territory was given to Alameda County in 1853.
The county's economy is heavily service based. Technology, both hardware and software, dominates the service sector by value, but like any other county, Santa Clara has its share of retail and office support workers.
The County of Santa Clara is committed to connecting volunteers with community needs and promoting volunteerism in Santa Clara County
This page is for informational purposes only to help traffic school students who need to work with the Santa Clara Superior Court Traffic Division in Santa Clara Counrty, CA. This information may change at any time, and it is up to the reader to verify this information with the court or other relevant parties.
