Arizona-Approved Traffic School

Our course has been reviewed and approved by the Arizona Supreme Court. See our defensive driving certification. We are also listed on the Arizona Supreme Court's website of approved school providers for Arizona.

Yes, Defensive Driving Institute uses the highest data security technology to ensure your personal and credit card information is secure. All information transmitted on our website is encrypted via "HyperText Transfer Protocol" (HTTP) with "Secure Sockets Layer" (SSL) as it travels to and from our servers. We do not store your credit card information or share your personal information with anybody. Your personal information is only utilized to report your course completion to the court.

As of September 1st, 2019, Commercial License holders may be eligible to attend traffic school if the CDL driver was driving for non-commercial purposes. For example, if the CDL holder was driving a personal vehicle during off business hours.

The State of Arizona has two different traffic school courses available for drivers. When enrolling in traffic school, it's essential to know which course you are required to take.
Defensive Driving Course

4 hours long
Dismisses your ticket and avoid points on your driving record
Can be taken once every 12 months for selected moving violations
It can be taken either online or in-person
You don't pay the ticket with the court
The school collects court and state fees required to dismiss the ticket and submits
them to the court and state once you are done with the course
Voluntary course
Traffic Survival School


8 hours long
Not optional - ADOT mandated
Must be taken to reinstate a suspended license
You accumulated 8 to 12 points on your driving record
You were convicted of a DUI
You were convicted of a red-light violation, and you have already taken DDC within 12 months for any other offense
Class is only offered in person


Highway Traffic School does not offer this course - to see a list of Arizona approved TSS providers, please visit the AZ ADOT website

You can attend an Arizona Defensive Driving School (also known as traffic school) once every 12 months.

We will need a copy of your driver's license and a copy of your citation before granting you access to your Arizona traffic school course. Once we receive your documents, we typically approve accounts in minutes, but please allow up to 2 hours for approval. For faster approval, please provide clear, legible copies of your documents.

You can use any method below to submit your documents:
Upload to your account by logging into your account Email to info@defensivedriversinstitute.com

The state mandates the Arizona Defensive Driving Course to be 4 hours long to be certified and approved. The benefit of taking an online course is the ability to stop and start whenever you like - our system will save your work and remember where you left off. There's no need to do the entire course all at once (unless you want to). Having the ability to pause the course and continue where you left off makes it convenient to work at your own pace.

Yes. Arizona law requires that you must complete your course at least seven days before your court/due date. If you need more time, you may contact the court listed on your ticket to request an extension. Once you have an approved extension from the court, you will need to let us know the new court/due date so we can update your account.

If you are within seven days of your court date, you will need to contact the court and request an extension. Arizona requires you to finish your course seven days before the court date. If this is the first extension you have asked for, most courts will allow an additional 30 to 45 day extension. Once you have obtained your approved extension, you can register to take the course with that new court/due date or update your account with the new court date.
If you have already obtained an extension in the past and require more time, you will need to contact the court. Keep in mind that additional extensions may be possible after the first extension has been granted, but most courts require extraordinary circumstances. An example of an extraordinary or emergency circumstance may be illness or financial hardship. Ultimately, it will be the court's discretion whether to give you more time.

The State of Arizona requires that all defensive driving schools collect specific fees on behalf of the state and the courts.
The fees are as follows:
Course Fee: $29.99
State Fee: $24 - Mandatory to dismiss a ticket
State Surcharge: $45 - Mandatory to dismiss a ticket
Court Diversion Fee: (varies by court) - Mandatory to dismiss a ticket
There are no hidden fees with Defensive Driving Institute. We disclose all fees without the need to start the registration process. Use our Arizona price tool to get your full price before registering and paying.

If you decide to take an Arizona Defensive Driving course, you DO NOT need to pay any fines to the court. The state and court fees we collect during registration are the only fines/fees you need to pay to dismiss your ticket.
From time to time, we see students accidentally pay both the fine directly with the court and enroll in an Arizona Defensive Driving course. This can cause your traffic school completion to be rejected. By paying the court directly, you indicate that you are pleading guilty to the violation on your ticket and do not plan to attend traffic school. This will result in points being added to your driving record. If you decide to attend traffic school, the school will collect the state and court fees required to dismiss your ticket. Keep in mind that these fees may be very close to the amount of the fine of the ticket if you would have paid it directly to the court. But, because defensive driving keeps points from being added to your driving record, you will save money in the long run from car insurance premium increases.
If you have paid both the fine with the court and also paid to attend a traffic school, you will need to contact the court as soon as possible to have them refund the payment and guilty plea. Failure to do so will result in your traffic school completion being rejected by the court. You will need to file a "motion" with the court requesting the refund in most cases. A motion is a formal request made to a judge in writing. Please do not continue to take the course until you have approval from the court to refund their payment. Once your motion has been approved, you may continue with your class.
If you have any additional questions on double payment by mistake, you may contact the court printed on your ticket for more information and instructions.