CA's AB 1888 is a JOKE!

So prior to January 2013, Commercial Drivers in California had no option to attend traffic school for minor moving violations, even those committed in personal use vehicles. After a lengthy "fight" between Truckers Unions and Lawmakers within the state, a bill known as AB 1888 was signed in to law by Gov. Brown. This would seem like a huge victory for Truckers, but unfortunately we had been duped. Here's a breakdown of how the new law works...

If you hold a Class A, B or Commercial C in the state of California, and you're convicted of one (minor) moving violation in an 18 month period, you are now "supposedly" eligible to attend traffic school.

The purpose of traffic school is and always has been to "mask" minor violations from appearing on a Motor Vehicle Record, or MVR.

AB 1888, somewhere in it's fine print, EXCLUDES COMMERCIAL DRIVERS from that all important protection traffic school provides, but still makes the option available!? It's like asking someone who's thirsty if they'd like a glass of water, then asking them to pay for that glass of water, and then never giving them any water at all...

What would be the purpose of attending traffic school if my conviction won't be masked? They claim it's to keep points from accumulating on your license, but because insurance companies and employers can STILL SEE the violation on your record, the points become entirely moot. You may have zero points against your license, but everyone still knows you were convicted of a MOVING VIOLATION the minute they pull your CMVR.

I wasted almost 80 dollars on traffic school and court costs before I was made aware of this little sham. It's clear the state is BROKE and had to come up with something entirely too clever to rack up more administrative dollars...

 

This "law" rips off commercial drivers, plain and simple. Think about it, you've got a court telling you that you're eligible for traffic school if you just plead guilty. You don't have to worry about hiring a lawyer, going to court. You won't lose much in the way of time or money (aside from the fine). So you think you've caught a break. But what they've actually done is just collect MORE money from you than the initial fine required AND GIVEN YOU NOTHING IN RETURN. You're still on the hook for the violation. It just cost you 40-70 dollars more. We were better off when traffic school simply was not an option. And union leaders are patting themselves on the back like this is some sort of great accomplishment for drivers. This is a SCAM and should be exposed as such...