As of December 1st, 2020, the state of Virginia and its DMV made updates to the requirements for how a Virginia Driver Improvement Program must operate. These changes came about due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were three main changes to the program that you need to be aware of if you need to take a driver improvement program.
1. Licensed drivers of any age can take the Virginia Driver Improvement Course online.
Before the update, only licensed drivers who were at least 20 years or older could take the Virginia Driver Improvement Course online. If a driver was younger than 20 years old, they were required to take the course in-person at a state-approved location.
2. An in-person final exam is no longer required.
Before the changes, even when taking the driver improvement course online, an in-person final exam was mandatory in Virginia. You would have been required to travel to a testing center location to take the 50 question exam. Now, everything is taken online only, including the final examination. This way you can complete the entire program from the safety and comfort of the location of your choosing. You are limited to one final exam attempt per 24 hours, so if you do not pass on the first attempt, you will be required to wait until the next day to try to receive a passing score.
3. There is no longer an additional charge to have course certificates emailed.
In the past, certificates were mailed for free to students after the successful completion of their online Virginia traffic school course. If the student wanted an electronic version of the certificate, there was an extra fee they paid that was not included in the cost of the course.
With the changes, certificates will no longer be mailed to students. As such, all students will receive the State of Virginia approved electronic certificate of completion via email for no extra charge. The certificate will arrive in PDF format.
What Has Not Changed with the Virginia Driver Improvement Program
It is worth reviewing what has not changed with the Virginia Driver Improvement Program, so you understand your responsibilities. For starters, you can still use your certificate for different reasons as follows:
- If the course was taken to fulfill traffic court requirements, you will still need to deliver the certificate to the court yourself. You may want to call the court to see if you can email the electronic version of the certificate or if they require a hard copy you must hand-deliver.
- If you take the course for insurance discount reasons, it is your responsibility to ensure your insurance agent receives a copy of the completion certificate. Again, you may be able to email the PDF certificate to your agent—but check with them first.
- If the online driving course was taken for Safe Driver Points or other DMV reasons, upon successful completion Ticketschool.com will report your completion electronically to the DMV to ensure that you get the proper credit applied to your record.
- Drivers under the age of 18 cannot take the course to qualify for Safe Driver Points. The Safe Driver Points program is only for drivers who are at least 18 years of age or older.
Reasons to Take the Virginia Driver Improvement Program at Ticket School
With different options to take the Virginia Driver Improvement Course online, it is important to choose the best online traffic school. At Ticket School, we use a combination of HD-quality videos, graphics, animations, and more. Our online course isn’t your average text-based course where you get stuck reading everything.
Another great reason to take our online course is that it is accessible across multiple devices. You can start the course on your laptop and pick up where you left off on your tablet or smartphone. Our course content is accessible 24/7, as well, so you can learn at your own pace and on a schedule that fits your lifestyle.
Best of all, you can retake any of the eight modules and review them as often as you want until you successfully pass the online course. We even offer a money-back guarantee if you are not happy with our online course, with a few exceptions.
To learn more and enroll in our Virginia Driver Improvement Course online, please feel free to sign up at Ticket School today! You may also contact us at (800) 558-9887 if you have further questions or need assistance.