In O.C., Traffic School No Laughing Matter

It might come as a surprise to Orange County residents who have received traffic tickets, but there is more to traffic school than simply sitting in a classroom for eight hours.

Surrounding counties allow residents to take Internet courses, rent videos from Blockbuster or take specialized classes including some taught by “Improv” comedians.

Not in Orange County.

County officials have granted exclusive control of its traffic school services to one company--the only jurisdiction in Southern California to do so. Residents have one choice: A basic class held Thursdays and Saturdays at their local courthouse.

But this could be changing.

The contract with the National Traffic Safety Institute expires this fall, and some critics are urging the courts to open the process to multiple schools, as other counties do.

Court officials, however, said they are likely to maintain a single exclusive contract, arguing that it’s much simpler to monitor the work of one firm than trying to regulate numerous ones.

Officials said they are also wary about allowing Internet and at-home classes out of concern that offenders might allow a friend or relative to complete their work.

“I don’t think the technology is there currently that we can verify the people logging on are the people who signed up for traffic school,” said Orange County Judge Glenn A. Mahler, who sat on a committee that set the county’s traffic school standards.

The court system’s stance didn’t sit well with some accused violators waiting in line this week at the Santa Ana courthouse to get a traffic school reservation.

“I don’t like it. I wish I had that many choices,” said Alex Farias of Santa Ana. “You could breeze through it at home instead of wasting a Saturday. I would do it online or videotape. I don’t think it would be any different.”

Tustin resident Pauldarian Burns agreed: “I don’t get a lot out of having to be in class and be inconvenienced when I could be at work doing something productive.”

The DMV has sanctioned more than 400 independent traffic schools--with names ranging from Gay Community Traffic School to Free Pizza Comedy 2 and Traffic School Taught With Movies.

“With these options available in Los Angeles and San Diego, you have an island where if someone gets a ticket across the street, they’re given more options,” said Gary Alexander, president of the Improv Traffic Schools.

The traffic school market is highly competitive, with scores of operators courting the hundreds of thousands of traffic violators who attend school to expunge tickets from their driving records.

In Orange County alone, some 100,000 motorists sign up for traffic school each year, said Carole Levitzky, spokeswoman for the Orange County Superior Court. At $13 per student, National’s cut is about $1.3 million per year.

Of the $48.50 each motorist pays the Orange County courts to attend traffic school, $24 goes to the county, $13 to National, $10 for the courtroom and $1.50 to the DMV for a certificate.

When the county awarded National the exclusive contract in 1995, the move was criticized by some county supervisors and competing firms. Only a few months earlier, National had been dropped as the exclusive operator by Santa Clara County amid allegations of overcharging.

The county has set an Aug. 7 deadline for schools to submit bids to become the county’s exclusive provider of traffic school services. Shirley Grindle, an outspoken critic of the Orange County government, questioned Wednesday why the county doesn’t allow competing schools to provide traffic classes.

“Why do we have a contract? Why not just let the citizens pick from a list of DMV licensed traffic schools?” Grindle said. “This looks like favoritism to give one company a monopoly. I wouldn’t consider this something the residents would support.”

Only motorists who live outside the county are allowed to attend private traffic schools such as Improv. Several private traffic schools operate in Orange County, but they only serve Orange County residents ticketed in other counties.

Judge Mahler maintains that using a single traffic school allows the county to more carefully scrutinize curriculum.

“The court retains more control over the quality of the services [with one school],” he said.

Mahler said he is also concerned that the DMV has not yet approved any Internet-based traffic schools. State law also makes no mention of allowing Internet or other types of traffic schools, Mahler said.

Other counties, however, are already using Internet traffic schools and treat completion of such courses as the equivalent of a regular class.

Bruce Elkins has been operating traffic schools in Los Angeles County since 1977, but has not been able to infiltrate the Orange County market.

“It’s a monopoly down there and I think a monopoly creates problems,” he said. “People should be allowed to make a profit. I think the system needs correcting.”