There are so many reasons to take a defensive driving course online. You might be looking for a discount on your insurance premium or a way to study safe driving skills, seeking ticket dismissal, or be court ordered to complete a defensive or driver improvement course to keep your driver license.
One thing you might wonder is “How long is the defensive driving course online?” The required length of online courses varies by state, so we will look into several states in detail to see how long it might take you to successfully complete a defensive driving course and receive the certificate of completion.
Texas Online Defensive Driving Course Timeline
A state-approved online defensive driving course in Texas is required to be six hours long. You are not required to complete the driving course in a single sitting, so you can work at your own pace. It would be reasonable to complete the course in one or two days if you need to do so.
If you have a court appointed deadline in Texas, you are responsible to present the driver course completion certificate to the court on or before that date to have your ticket dismissed and prevent the points from going on your driving record. The Texas completion certificate has an insurance copy at the bottom that can be submitted to participating auto insurance companies for discounts if you are eligible.
In Texas your certificate of completion is sent via email, and you can also order a copy of your driving record if the court requires that too so you get both documents at the same time.
Florida Online Defensive Driving Course Timeline
Florida requires a Basic Driver Improvement course to be four hours online. This course may meet your requirements for insurance discounts or a minor traffic violation. A Florida court might also order you to take an Intermediate 8-hour or an Advanced 12-hour driver improvement course, especially if you have already completed the 4-hour online course.
The fastest way to get your completion certificate is to select express shipping or electronic delivery during registration. If you choose the electronic copy, as soon as you complete the course, you can download your certificate. This is extremely helpful if you need to meet a fast approaching court deadline. Otherwise your certificate will be mailed to you and should be received in 5-7 business days.
You could complete a 4-hour course, download the certificate, and submit it to the court in as little as 1 day in Florida if you are willing to take all 4 hours of the course in on the same day. The 12 hour Advanced Driver Improvement course in Florida is a much more intense course experience. The State of Florida requires a user to take a 24 hour break in the middle of the course and also to answer 50 essay questions throughout that must be graded. There is also a final exam that is graded my a human instructor. Due to these requirements the ADI course in Florida realistically takes 3 days at a minimum.
Virginia Driver Improvement Course Online Timeline
The Commonwealth of Virginia requires this online course to be eight hours long. You can work at your own pace and take your time or try completing the course in a single day. A final exam is required, and you will need to score 80%, but you can complete this test online, as well, and try as many times as you need to in order to pass the final exam. The final exam can only be taken once every 24 hours however.
As soon as you complete the test, you can download an electronic certificate of completion as a PDF. You are responsible to turn in the paperwork to the court or your insurance company before any deadlines. Ticket School will also report your successful completion to the Virginia DMV the next business day, which vital for those users that are DMV Ordered to complete the course. The Virginia course can be completed in as little as one day, but being 8 hours, most users take two to four days.
New York Internet Point and Insurance Reduction Program Timeline
New York has an IPIRP requirement that the online course contain 320 minutes of instruction, but most round to say that it is a 6-hour course. To be eligible to receive the point reduction benefit or to get the mandated insurance discount, the state gives you have 30 days to complete the course from the time you register.
Ticket School will notify the New York DMV of your course completion and send you a copy of the certificate by the shipping method you choose. You will need to check your NY driving record to see that you received the applicable point reduction benefit and turn in your certificate to your insurance company to get the discount.
It may take up to a week for the course completion to be visible on your official driving record. With the course being 6 hours, most can complete the New York State approved defensive driving course in one day, however more realistically users will take 2-4 days to complete the course and then it can take about 1 week for the completion to be reported and applied to your record.
Other State Examples of Defensive Driving Course Timelines
- Michigan. The course must be four hours long. Register after the Secretary of State sends a notice you are eligible to complete the Basic Driver Improvement course before the deadline date listed on the notice. Successful completion is automatically reported to the State of Michigan one business day later.
- Louisiana. This course is also four hours long and must be approved by your local parish to be valid. You are responsible to turn in the certificate of completion to your parish. A PDF download is immediately available upon completion of the online course.
- Tennessee. The 4-hour Tennessee online traffic school course is approved for certain traffic violations and may be taken online. Check with your court prior to make sure a standard Tennessee traffic school course is what you need and that a longer 8-hour defensive driving course is not required in your case. You can download your completion certificate as soon as you finish the course online.
- Missouri. This state requires the online driver improvement course to be eight hours long. When you finish, you can download and print form 4444, which will be prefilled for you. This is the form you must submit within 15 days to the Missouri Drivers License Bureau for point reduction or by court order.
Register in a State-Approved Online Defensive Driving Course
Regardless of the length of the defensive driving course you need, taking the course online is definitely the fastest way to complete so register today with Ticket School. Most of the state courses allow you to work at your own pace and have multiple chances to successfully complete your course. Ticket School offers modernized course material to keep your attention and unmatched customer service to support you if needed.