West Palm Beach Traffic School Online
West Palm Beach Highway Dangers and Traffic Citation Information
West Palm Beach is a very popular city found in Palm Beach County, Florida. The city has a population of just over 104,000 residents and belongs to the South Florida Metro area, which has a population of more than 5.6 million.
It's a coastal city found near some of the finest beaches in South Florida. Many travel to the area every year to enjoy the sunshine and it's a haven for retirees coming for the winter season.
The large number of visitors mixed with regular residents makes the area roads rather dangerous. Visitors bring a unique driving style and they often don't know the roads very well.
After you receive a ticket in the West Palm Beach area, you probably won't be very happy. Before you get too upset, stop and consider these traffic stats:
- Many major highways serve the West Palm Beach area including Interstate 95, Florida’s Turnpike, US 1, State Road 710 and State Road 704.
- These major roads become very busy and very dangerous throughout the peak season.
- I-95 carries over 186,000 vehicles daily.
- The Florida portion of I-95 is the most dangerous highway in America.
- Palm Beach County experiences over 15,000 traffic crashes on an average year.
- The South Florida area experiences close to 100,000 traffic accidents yearly.
- The accident stats are growing in the area.
Law enforcement can only do so much, but they have to issue tickets for speeding, careless driving and other offenses. If they didn't, the stats would be far worse.
| Palm Beach County Crash Stats | 2011 | 2012 | Percent Change | 3-Year Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Number of Motor Vehicle Crashes | 11,542 | 16,726 | +44.91% | 14,083 |
| Fatalities | 113 | 131 | +15.93% | 122 |
| Injuries | 10,527 | 12,156 | +15.47% | 11,705 |
| Alcohol Related | 1,023 | 1,102 | +7.72% | 1,081 |
| Alcohol Related Fatalities | 44 | 44 | 0.00% | 39 |
| Alcohol Related Injuries | 489 | 510 | +4.29% | 500 |
Traffic Citation Information for Palm Beach County, Florida
Over the course of 2015, law enforcement gave out more than 125K traffic tickets throughout Palm Beach County. Many of these tickets, 70K+, were for speeding, while about 7,500 were for careless driving. Judges don't dismiss many tickets in the area and only dismissed about 15% of the total number of tickets issued in 2015.
License Suspensions in West Palm Beach, Florida
A license suspension is nothing to laugh about. If you're caught driving on a suspended license, the sentence is 90 days in jail and up to $500 in fines. Drivers becoming habitual offenders are at risk of license suspensions in West Palm Beach.
The State of Florida uses a points system with assigned points ranging from 3 to 6 for each traffic ticket. The worst offenses, such as causing an accident while speeding or leaving the scene of an accident carry the maximum 6 points. It's also important to note that you can get more than one traffic ticket in one stop.
If you receive enough tickets to accrue 12 points on your license in 12 months, you will end up with a 30-day suspension of your license. Get 18 points over 18 months and the suspension triples. Those getting 24 points in 36 months will lose their license for an entire year. The points don't reset after a suspension, either.
Traffic School Helps You Keep Your License Clean
If you want to keep points off your license and keep your insurance rates from going up, you can take the basic driver improvement course offered by online traffic school. This is an easy way to erase the points from a recent ticket and give you some leeway when it comes to a potential suspension.
You don't get out of the fine associated with the ticket, however. You will need to pay your ticket with the clerk of the court and let them know you will attend traffic school. Then, enroll online and take the basic driver improvement course. After completion, you will need to turn in your certificate of completion to the clerk of the court. That's all it takes and it's a small price to pay to keep points off your license and your insurance rates where they are currently.
Can you Even Take Traffic School?
Not all drivers are eligible for traffic school. The State of Florida only allows you to take the course once every 12 months and a maximum of 5 times. If you've taken it in the past 12 months or five times already, you're not eligible.
Palm Beach County Clerk of the Court
In West Palm Beach, Florida all traffic tickets are handled by the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Court. The clerk of the court takes payments, answers questions and provides any ticket information you need. Find out more about the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Court by visiting their website.
