Living in Washington DC is pretty cool. It’s a unique city to live in with lots to do, but driving around Washington DC is not always a fun experience. I’ve spent many hours sitting in bumper to bumper traffic all over the city, so when the traffic Gods smile down and I see the open road ahead of me, I admit I tend to put the pedal down and enjoy zipping around town. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always end in a great experience.
If you live in Washington DC for an extended period of time, the chance you’ll end up getting a traffic ticket is pretty high. There’s no shortage of traffic congestion, but there’s also no shortage of law enforcement ready to make this great city a few bucks by issuing you a citation.
Fortunately, Washington DC offers DMV approved online defensive driving courses to help you protect your driving record.
Please be aware that you MUST receive prior approval from a DC DMV hearing examiner at your moving violation hearing to take an online traffic school for point removal purposes.
How To Sign Up For Washington DC Online Traffic School
Once you have received approval to take an online traffic school from your DMV hearing examiner, you have 15 days to pay your ticket. Yes, you still have to pay your traffic ticket in Washington DC even if you take traffic school. The defensive driving course is only to reduce points on your driving record. You then have just 30 days from the time of your hearing to complete your traffic school course.
There Are Only 2 Certified Washington DC Online Traffic Schools To Choose From
Washington DC doesn’t give you many options as far as completing your online traffic school. You only have two courses to choose from. Honestly, both of these online traffic schools are pretty mediocre, but it sure beats wasting a Saturday sitting in a stuffy classroom being lectured at by some driving instructor who probably doesn’t want to be there either. Here are the courses you can take:
DC Defensive Driving – This accredited online traffic school in Washington DC is operated by the American Safety Council. It is approved by the Washington DC DMV and costs less than 30 bucks. They actually guarantee the lowest price, even though it is the exact same price as your second option. The course is not fast or fun, but it’s extremely easy to pass and since you can do it from home, it beats going to a classroom.
Washington DC Online Traffic School – This online traffic school is the second and last option you have if you want to reduce points on your driving record. They offer 24/7/365 customer support if you have any issues, it works well on mobile devices, and registration is quick. This course is operated by a company called The Online Traffic School, Inc. which operates in many different states, so they have a pretty good system down. Again, it’s not going to be fun, but it is one of your only choices.
It doesn’t really matter which one of these Washington DC online traffic schools you pick. They both operate in almost identical ways, so just choose one of them and get it done. Same price, same boring course (for the most part).
Additional Washington DC Online Traffic Schools
There are reasons to take online traffic school in Washington DC other than point reduction. For example, many auto insurance companies offer insurance premium discounts if you successfully complete an online traffic school. In most cases, your insurance provider will tell you which course to go with, but if you can, request one of the recommended online traffic schools listed below. They are much better than the boring courses Washington DC has approved for point reduction.
The 4 Best Washington DC Online Traffic Schools For Insurance Discounts
Again, you MUST receive special permission from your insurance provider to take these online traffic schools. However, if you can, request from your insurance carrier to let you take one of these courses as they are much better than the traditional Washington DC options.
1. iDriveSafely
iDriveSafely is one of the oldest and most well established online traffic schools in the country. They have been around for over 20 years and have helped over 5,000,000 people dismiss traffic tickets, remove driving points, and reduce insurance rates. iDriveSafely works well on mobile devices and tablets so you can get your traffic school done from just about anywhere and at anytime. They save your place and you can switch between devices seamlessly.
Another great perk about iDriveSafely is their U.S. based customer support team who you can reach 24/7. Online traffic schools are not known for their great customer service as many of them outsource their support team to offshore companies. If you run into any issues with iDriveSafely this won’t be a problem. Feel free to check out our full review of iDriveSafely to learn more about it.
Get The Best Price On iDriveSafely Here
2. Improv Traffic School
Improv Traffic School is one of my personal favorites. Why? Because I’m a sucker for humor. Improv Traffic School knows full-well that traffic school sucks. Nobody takes traffic school by choice. It’s boring and most of us see it as a waste of time and money. We’re only doing it to protect our driving records or keep our insurance premiums low.
That’s why the folks at Improv Comedy put together this online traffic school. They started off in the 90’s by running classroom-based traffic schools run by stand-up comedians. Once online traffic school became a thing, they decided to create an online course. The type of humor they use might not be everyone’s style, but I have found the course to be pretty amusing. If I can get even a few laughs in while taking traffic school, that’s a score in my book.
Like most online traffic schools these days, it is mobile friendly and you can go at your own pace. Feel free to get it done all at once in one sitting, or split it up throughout the course of several days and just do a little bit at a time. It’s up to you. If you’d like to learn more about Improv Traffic School get an inside look by checking out the more detailed Improv Traffic School review.
Check Out Improv Traffic School Here
3. Go To Traffic School
Go To Traffic School is one of the best Washington DC online traffic schools if you want to save a few bucks. This online traffic school guarantees they are the cheapest, so if you find a cheaper option around, you can request that they meet or beat the price. Even though they are cheap, that doesn’t mean it is low quality. Go To Traffic School has been around for about 20 years but they just recently updated their course. They now have modern interactive videos, animations, and even games throughout the course.
Of course, you might not care about that stuff. You just want to know if it’s fast and easy. That is also the case. No offense, but if you’re not able to pass this online traffic school, you probably shouldn’t be driving anyway. You can probably pass all the quizzes without even paying attention, so fire up your favorite Netflix show and take your traffic school at the same time. They also offer 24/7 customer support and all that good stuff. So, if you just want the cheapest option available, Go To Traffic School is the course you want. Find out more about how this course works in our full Go To Traffic School review.
Check Out Go To Traffic School Here
4. Aceable
Last, but certainly not least, is Aceable. This is one of the newest Washington DC online traffic schools to launch. You might think that’s a bad thing since they don’t have a lot of experience, but the opposite is true. They invested millions of dollars into creating the most modern and advanced online traffic school available online today.
What makes it so “advanced?” Well, for starters, this is the only online traffic school to have dedicated apps for any device you want to use. The other Washington DC online traffic schools are “mobile-friendly” but they are still browser-based. With Aceable, you actually download an app. That means, it runs smoother, faster, and is just an all-around better experience. They also have some features other online traffic schools don’t have such as 360 degree and 3D videos including virtual reality videos. Don’t worry, you don’t need to have a virtual reality setup to use this course, but those features are available if you have the setup. Pretty cool, right?
While it isn’t 24hrs, they have U.S. based customer support available 7 days per week in case you run into any problems. They also guarantee the course, so if you sign up for it and you hate it for some reason, you’ll get a refund. Overall, this is a really cool online traffic school simply based on the advanced and modern features they have. If you plan on taking your online traffic school on your smartphone or tablet, this is one of the best Washington DC online traffic schools to sign up for. Check out more info in our full Aceable review.
Final Thoughts About Taking A Washington DC Online Traffic School
As you can see, with Washington DC online traffic schools, your options are a bit limited. You really only have 2 options for reducing points on your driving record. If you are taking a traffic school to reduce your insurance premiums, you may have more options, so be sure to request that you take one of my recommended online traffic schools above. You’ll thank me later!
Good luck to you, and slow down out there! 😀