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South Dakota Traffic Violations

If you get pulled over in South Dakota and are charged with violating the South Dakota traffic laws, a law enforcement officer will issue you a citation explaining how you can pay your traffic ticket to the South Dakota court overseeing your violation. If you want to challenge your traffic ticket, just review the citation for the address and contact information of the local South Dakota court overseeing the jurisdiction where you were ticketed, and contact them to arrange for a hearing for your traffic violation. If you are unsure of exactly how to dispute the charges but are confident you did not commit the violation you have been ticketed for, consider contacting an experienced attorney to help you with disputing your traffic violation.

If you feel you are likely guilty of your traffic violation but would like an opportunity to reduce the violation charged against you based on your particular circumstances and your (hopefully) clean previous South Dakota driving record, you can also appear in court and request some form of leniency from the South Dakota court.

If you are convicted of the traffic violation, which includes paying your ticket and moving on, South Dakota's Motor Vehicles Division ("MVD") will assign points against your South Dakota driving record.

South Dakota Points System

The South Dakota MVD oversees a points system to prevent unsafe drivers from inhabiting the roads and highways. If you are negligently involved in an accident or commit a traffic violation, points will attach to your South Dakota driving record. The following are some examples of point values assigned to common traffic violations:

• Speeding by less than 15 mph: 2 points
• Ignoring a Stop Sign: 3 points
• Failure to Yield: 4 points
• Improper Passing: 4 points
• Reckless Driving: 8 points
• Driving Under the Influence: 10 points

The South Dakota point system does not assign you multiple sets of points if you are involved in multiple traffic violations at once; rather, the highest point total of all violations is all that will be added to your South Dakota driving record. So, if you are caught passing a vehicle on the shoulder while speeding, your South Dakota driving record will only be cited four points, rather than 6.

That is the good news. The bad news is that, if you are a South Dakota resident and you commit a traffic violation in another state, the South Dakota MVD will attach those points and that traffic violation to your South Dakota driving record as well. Also, points will generally stay on your South Dakota driving record for three years.

Suspension of Your South Dakota Driving Privileges

If 15 points end up on your South Dakota driving record in one year, or you accumulate 22 points in two years, your South Dakota driving privileges will be suspended. Your South Dakota driving privileges may also be immediately suspended if you are convicted of, or plead guilty to, one of the following:

• DUI's
• Driving without Insurance
• Possession of Drugs or Alcohol by a Minor Under 21
• Selling Alcohol to Minors
• Eluding a law Enforcement Officer
• Driving on a Suspended License
• Driving with an Outstanding Unpaid Traffic Violation

The list above is not exclusive, but if you commit a traffic violation or other infraction that will result in the immediate suspension of your South Dakota driving privileges, the South Dakota MVD will notify you by mail shortly after you are convicted or plead guilty. The South Dakota law enforcement officer issuing you the citation for such activity will likely also inform you of the potential ramifications regarding your South Dakota driving privileges.

All suspensions are discretionary in time. Either the South Dakota MVD or the local South Dakota court handling your violation will take into account your South Dakota driving record and the current traffic violation leading to your suspension when determining the length of suspension of your South Dakota driving privileges.

Attending Traffic School in South Dakota

The South Dakota MVD does not authorize points or traffic violations being taken off your record simply by enrolling in a South Dakota traffic school. As part of a sentence related to a suspended license, the South Dakota MVD may order you to enroll in a Defensive Driving Class offered by the South Dakota Safety Council but, again, this will not improve your driving record beyond enabling you to have your South Dakota driving privileges reinstated.

However, a South Dakota court may allow you to enroll in a South Dakota online traffic school or online driver improvement program in exchange for reducing or dismissing your traffic violation altogether, and with it the points on your South Dakota driving record. While this is not a given, by appearing in court or contacting the court overseeing your violation, you may be able to request an opportunity for this lenient decision if you enroll in a South Dakota online traffic school or online driver improvement program. Again, any such consideration will be aided if you are aware of the specifics of the traffic violation laws in question or you have hired an attorney. Further, your sincerity in maintaining a clean South Dakota driving record, as well as your driving history and the specific circumstances involving your current violation will all be taken into account by a South Dakota court before it considers offering you a chance to clear your South Dakota driving record.

The Benefits of a Clean South Dakota Driving Record

You don't just want a clean South Dakota driving record to prevent your South Dakota driving privileges from being taken away, though that is obviously important. A clean driving record is also paramount to keeping your insurance premiums low. Your South Dakota car insurance costs are tied directly to the overall cleanliness of your South Dakota driving record. The more violations you rack up, the more your premiums will skyrocket, costing you hundreds to thousands of dollars each year. These premium hikes come in addition to the fines you will have to pay for your traffic violations, court costs and possible reinstatement fees to get your South Dakota driving privileges back.

A South Dakota online traffic school program is designed to prevent all of these problems from coming your way. In addition to the possibility of helping you get traffic violations reduced or dismissed, a South Dakota online driver improvement program teaches you invaluable safe driving skills that will keep you out of accidents, off the phone with your insurance carrier, away from court and out of the line at your local South Dakota MVD office.

South Dakota Mature Driver Insurance Discounts

A South Dakota online traffic school can even qualify you for an insurance discount. If you are a South Dakota Mature Driver over the age of 55, you may qualify for unique insurance discounts from your auto insurance providers by enrolling in South Dakota traffic school courses designed to refresh safe driving habits in mature drivers, and helping you learn defensive driving techniques to not only keep your insurance premiums low, but possibly discount them even further.

South Dakota Juvenile Driver Insurance Discounts

South Dakota juvenile drivers should also contact their insurance provider to discuss a possible discount to their auto insurance. Because juvenile drivers, those drivers under the age of 18, are the most likely to be involved in a traffic violation or traffic accident, insurance companies provide incentives for young drivers who have clean driving records. By participating in a South Dakota online driver improvement program or traffic school, your South Dakota driving record will show that you are committed as a juvenile driver to safe driving, and in turn your auto insurance provider may be willing to lower your insurance costs to promote your safe driving behavior.

South Dakota Classroom Traffic Schools

If you would like to learn more about possible South Dakota traffic schools that teach defensive driving skills in a traditional classroom setting, you should contact the South Dakota MVD for a list of MVD-approved brick-and-mortar schools. You can also reach out to the local South Dakota court handling your traffic violation, or your auto insurance carrier, to see if they have approved certain traditional South Dakota traffic schools in the past.