Bill Would Let Offenders Skip Traffic School

The Arizona Daily Star reports that a provision buried in the package of bills for the 2010 budget would let motorists who receive traffic tickets skip traffic school by simply paying a flat fee. Motorists involved in criminal traffic offenses--like drunk driving—would not be eligible. Neither would those who get into accidents that cause serious injury or death.

Arizona law says most motorists can either plead innocent and go to trial, plead guilty and pay a fine, or pay to go to defensive driving classes. The traffic school option means no points against the motorist’s drivers license and the violation is not reported to insurance companies. The new proposal would allow traffic offenders to just pay for the class and walk away.

The plan cleared its first hurdle last week when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a series of changes to the criminal code.

Committee Chairman Russell Pearce says there’s no evidence that defensive driving schools actually do any good.