There are many different reasons that people take a defensive driving course, as well as many benefits. You may have gotten into an accident recently, or gotten a ticket, and need to go to traffic school in order to have a ticket dismissal, rather than it be on your driving record. You may have too many tickets already, and have points on your record that need to be reduced in order to get a better rate on your car insurance. Many insurance companies will also reduce your rates 10% or more just by simply volunteering to take extra driving courses.
For whatever the reason you want to learn defensive driving, there are just a few things to know about the driving course itself. Sure you can take driving courses online, but you won't get the same benefits that a real state licensed traffic school can provide. Sure the courses online can be quicker, some as low as six hours, but you don't get the hands on training that a real life course can provide you. The advantages of a real school are that not only do you have classroom activities, but you also have the opportunity to put your new found skills to the test in the real world, on a closed track, so you can practice before you go out on the road.
Defensive driving requires skill and practice, but there are many benefits. You are able to think ahead, and learn to anticipate what other drivers may be doing, without being distracted yourself. Driving courses can help people who are not used to driving in winter conditions learn how to stop on snow and ice, turn corners without sliding, and what to do in case you do start to slide off the road. A driving course is an ideal way for new student drivers to learn more than what is taught in school drivers education courses and could save their lives.
When you are looking for good defensive driving courses, there are some things the need to have in order to be right for you. If you are a new driver, you need to check with your local Department of Motor Vehicles to see how many classroom and actual driving hours that are required to get your license, but it is on the average of 25-30, part of which is going to be in the classroom, with studying and simulations, and the rest in real driving situations. Costs for these courses really depend of the amount of training involved, and which driving school is providing the instruction. You can expect to pay on average anywhere from $700-$1300, and sometimes more. These prices, while they may seem high, are reasonable compared to the costs of tickets, court fines, higher insurance premiums, and the cost of getting into a car accident.
You can find a number of different defensive driving schools in your area by simply going online. You will probably find more choices available than just looking in the phone book, and by going online you can compare the prices of each company without having to call each one personally.