California traffic school
Bakersfield, Kern County Traffic School: Online Course, Court Info & Next Steps
If you received a traffic ticket in Bakersfield, California, you may be able to complete an online Traffic Violator School (TVS) course — commonly called "traffic school" — to keep the violation confidential on your DMV record.
3 easy steps
- Sign up
- Complete the online course
- Get your certificate
Whether GoToTrafficSchool.com's online course can be used for your specific citation depends on the Kern County Superior Court's rules and, in Kern County, on whether the school is included on the list maintained through the court's designated referral service. This page explains what's verified for Bakersfield drivers, what to confirm before enrolling, and how to handle the citation itself.
Is Online Traffic School Accepted for Bakersfield Tickets?
Bakersfield traffic citations are handled by the Superior Court of California, County of Kern — Metropolitan Traffic Division, located in Bakersfield. Effective July 1, 2011, the courts will no longer be allowed to dismiss infractions after a driver completes traffic school; instead, the infraction is recorded as a conviction, but the driver's first conviction in an 18-month period is confidential and will not reflect negative marks on the driving record.
Kern County's traffic school process has a distinctive local step: upon receiving your Traffic School request, the court will provide instructions including a list of D.M.V. certified schools in your area, giving you a future date of approximately 60 days to complete Traffic School. The court identifies its approved list through a specific referral organization rather than a generic statewide directory: to obtain a free list of approved Traffic Schools, contact the California Traffic and Safety Institute at (661) 940-1907 or at ctsi-courtnetwork.org, and drivers may attend any school on that approved list.
What this means for GoToTrafficSchool.com: GoToTrafficSchool's inclusion on Kern's CTSI-administered list was not independently confirmed in this research pass. Before enrolling for a Bakersfield/Kern citation, confirm with the Kern County Traffic Division or CTSI (661-940-1907) that GoToTrafficSchool.com appears on the current approved list for your court date. Classification: COURT-SPECIFIC PERMISSION PATHWAY VERIFIED for the general TVS process — the pathway is confirmed, but GoToTrafficSchool's specific listing is APPROVAL / ACCEPTANCE NOT VERIFIED and must be checked before you pay or enroll.
Do not attend a course before paying the court. If you attend traffic school prior to payment of the bail amount and administrative fee, your completion certificate will not be accepted by the court.
Who Is Eligible
Kern County's Traffic Division lists specific eligibility conditions for its Metropolitan-area cases, including a Bakersfield-specific speed threshold not found in the general state packet:
- You must not have attended traffic school on a prior citation issued within 18 months of your present citation; you must have a valid driver's license; you must not have been cited for exceeding the maximum or reasonable speed by more than 25 miles per hour (or as determined by the judicial officer); the citation must not require a mandatory court appearance; and the due date on your ticket must not be past.
- Class A, B, or Commercial Class C licensed drivers cited while driving a non-commercial vehicle are eligible to attend traffic school based on the same eligibility requirements, though the conviction will not be masked — only the point assessment is avoided.
The Bakersfield Ticket Process, Step by Step
- Courtesy Notice. Within a few weeks of a citation, you should receive a Courtesy Notice indicating your fine amount or, if a mandatory appearance is required, your court date and time — normally at least 10 days before that date. If you don't receive one, you must still appear or act by the date on the citation itself.
- Choose your option. If the notice does not require mandatory appearance, your options are to pay the ticket (which stays on your driving record), attend traffic school if eligible, or appear in court.
- Pay bail and the traffic school fee to the court (amounts are on your notice; this page does not restate them).
- Get your approved-school list from CTSI and select a course.
- Complete the course by your assigned date; the school submits proof of completion directly to the court, which then applies a confidential conviction masking the violation from your public record.
Where your case is handled: if your ticket originated in the Metropolitan area, you may appear as a walk-in at the Clerk's Office on or before the due date; if it originated outside the Metropolitan area, you go to the court branch listed on your Courtesy Notice. Kern County has several traffic branches beyond Bakersfield (Delano, Lamont, Mojave, Ridgecrest, Shafter); your citation identifies which one applies to you — each citation indicates at the bottom which court facility handles it.
Kern County Traffic Court — Bakersfield (Metropolitan Traffic Division)
Detail | Information |
|---|---|
Court/Division | Superior Court of California, County of Kern — Metropolitan Traffic Division |
Address | 3131 Arrow St, Bakersfield, CA 93308 |
Phone | (661) 610-7000 |
Payment/lobby hours | Monday–Thursday 7:30 AM–4:00 PM; Friday 7:30 AM–3:00 PM; closed Saturday and Sunday |
Phone service hours | Monday–Thursday 7:30 AM–4:00 PM; Friday 7:30 AM–12:00 PM; closed weekends |
Role/service area | Handles Bakersfield-area (Metropolitan) traffic infractions; citations from outlying Kern communities may be routed to Delano, Lamont, Mojave, Ridgecrest, or Shafter branches instead — check your Courtesy Notice |
Official links | Kern County Traffic Court · Traffic School page · Pay Traffic Citations |
Traffic Night Court: available for drivers unable to attend day court (e.g., due to work or school); you must sign up with the Traffic Division no later than 4:00 PM on the session day, and if you have multiple citations you may appear on only one. Proceedings begin at exactly 5:00 PM and generally conclude by 7:30 PM at the same 3131 Arrow St location.
Can't afford to pay? The court's Can't Afford to Pay page and the statewide MyCitations tool address fee-reduction requests without needing to state amounts here; see Sources below.
Local Enforcement: Bakersfield's Expanding Red-Light Camera Program
Bakersfield's automated enforcement footprint is changing and is directly relevant to drivers cited by camera. As of early 2026, Bakersfield has 10 active red-light cameras, and the city planned to add 6 more — at Ming Ave. & Gosford Rd., White Lane & Stine Rd., White Lane & Gosford Rd., Ming Ave. & New Stine Rd., Panama Ln. & Stine Rd., and Panama Ln. & Ashe Rd. — expected to go live by late summer 2026. The expansion targets intersections identified as high-risk for broadside crashes. Selection was based on Bakersfield Police Department analysis of violation and traffic-volume data, aimed at reducing injury collisions and fatalities.
If you receive a red-light-camera citation in Bakersfield, confirm with the Kern County Traffic Division whether that specific citation type qualifies for traffic school under the same eligibility rules described above — camera-issued notices are not automatically identical to officer-issued citations, and this page's general eligibility list should not be assumed to cover every citation type without checking your notice.
Insurance and Point-Masking (What the Course Does and Doesn't Do)
Completing traffic school for an eligible Bakersfield-area citation results in a confidential conviction, which is the mechanism that keeps the point off your publicly visible DMV record so an insurer typically cannot see or rate on it. This is not the same as dismissal of the underlying ticket, and it does not apply to a second qualifying violation within the same 18-month window. Separately, California's Good Driver rules require insurers to offer a lower-rate tier to drivers who maintain a clean, low-point record over time; traffic school can help you stay under that point threshold, but it does not itself create a guaranteed discount. Confirm any insurance effect with your own insurer.
Classroom Alternative
Kern County directs drivers to the California Traffic and Safety Institute (CTSI) — (661) 940-1907, ctsi-courtnetwork.org — for its official, court-approved list of in-person, home-study, video-based, and internet-based schools serving Kern County. This is the verified, non-exhaustive local resource for readers who prefer a classroom option or want to confirm a provider's status before enrolling; GoToTrafficSchool.com's presence on that list was not independently confirmed in this research pass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GoToTrafficSchool.com automatically accepted for a Bakersfield ticket?
Not automatically. Kern County requires selecting from a list maintained through the California Traffic and Safety Institute; confirm current listing status before enrolling.
Does traffic school dismiss my Bakersfield ticket?
No. The infraction is still recorded as a conviction with the DMV; only the first qualifying conviction in an 18-month period is made confidential rather than publicly visible.
Which court handles my Bakersfield citation?
Most Bakersfield-area tickets go to the Metropolitan Traffic Division at 3131 Arrow St, but your specific citation indicates at the bottom which court facility handles it — always check your notice.
Can I attend traffic school before paying the court?
No. Attending before paying the bail amount and traffic school fee means the court will not accept your completion certificate.
What if I can't attend during regular court hours?
Kern County offers Traffic Night Court for drivers unable to attend during the day, provided you sign up with the Traffic Division by 4:00 PM the day of the session.
Does a red-light camera ticket qualify for traffic school the same way?
Not necessarily assumed — confirm with the Kern County Traffic Division whether your specific camera-issued citation is eligible under the standard rules.
Will traffic school lower my insurance rate?
Not guaranteed. It helps keep a qualifying violation off your visible DMV record, which can help preserve Good Driver rate eligibility, but it is not itself an insurance discount program.
About GoToTrafficSchool.com
GoToTrafficSchool.com has provided online traffic education since 2000. Its California course is offered as a self-paced online option intended for eligible traffic violator school use; California-specific approval and per-court acceptance should always be confirmed with your court before enrolling, as explained above.
Next step: If your Bakersfield/Kern citation notice indicates traffic school eligibility, contact CTSI and the Kern County Traffic Division to confirm GoToTrafficSchool.com's current status before paying, then review the California course page for course details.
More Traffic School Information for Bakersfield Drivers
- California Traffic School Course (State Page): General California DMV Traffic Violator School terminology, statewide 18-month reuse rule, and course details apply to Bakersfield residents. California Traffic School Online
- Kern County Superior Court — Traffic Division: Official source for Bakersfield-area and countywide branch locations, forms, and payment options. Kern County Traffic Court
- California Courts Self-Help Center — Traffic: Statewide guidance on eligibility framing, trial by written declaration, and appeal rights that apply alongside Kern's local procedure. selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/traffic
Public Sources (accessed 2026-09-24):
- Kern County Superior Court, Traffic Court — https://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/divisions/traffic-court
- Kern County Superior Court, Traffic School — https://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/divisions/traffic-court/traffic-school
- Kern County Superior Court, Metropolitan Traffic Division location page — https://www.kern.courts.ca.gov/location/metropolitan-traffic-division
- California Traffic and Safety Institute — https://ctsi-courtnetwork.org/
- 23ABC/KERO, "Bakersfield approves six new red-light cameras at high-crash intersections," published 2026-03-16 — https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/bakersfield/bakersfield-approves-six-new-red-light-cameras-at-high-crash-intersections
- California Courts Self-Help Center, Traffic — https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/traffic
Verification date: 2026-09-24