North Carolina 8-Hour Defensive Driving

8-Hour Traffic School Made Easy

Our 100% online North Carolina 8-hour defensive driving course gives you the freedom to progress based on your own busy schedule and learning preferences. We give you the ultimate flexibility to become a safer driver. 

With I Drive Safely, you can complete your course:

• Anywhere – all you need is a computer or mobile device with an Internet connection!
• Anytime – you have 24/7 online access to your coursework.
• At your own pace – complete the course in one sitting, or take it one chapter at a time. Your course progress saves automatically!

I Drive Safely makes it easy to complete your course on-time and apply what you’ve learned using features such as:

• Coursework that is broken down into easy-to-manage chapters
• Multiple-choice review quizzes 
• Final exam at the end of the course 

How it Works: 8-Hour North Carolina Defensive Driving

The traffic school process can be confusing, especially in North Carolina with 2 different kinds of courses.

You can take this course if you:

• Received a minor traffic citation in any North Carolina county (except Guilford County or Wake County) and have received permission from your court or county clerk to take our online defensive driving course.
• Already completed the 4-hour North Carolina defensive driving course in the past 4 years.
• Have been ordered by a court to complete an 8-hour NC defensive driving course
• Decided to take a driver improvement course in North Carolina voluntarily in order to receive an insurance discount.

Our course not only provides the best, most up-to-date information on safe, responsible driving, but it does so in an engaging and effective way. And now, I Drive Safely has two defensive driving course formats to choose from:

Text-Based Course

• Presents all coursework in brief, easy-to-understand chapters
• Easy, affordable, and convenient – automatically saves your progress!
• Option to upgrade to audio to have course read out loud

Video Course

• Teaches you safe driving via a streaming video
• Easiest way to complete an online defensive driving course
• Engaging and entertaining

Customer Support When You Need It

We’re here to help you when you need us. Our Customer Support Team is available 7 days a week. Give them a call whenever you have a question

How It Works – North Carolina 8-Hour Traffic Safety Course

There are 2 scenarios in which you may take a traffic safety course in North Carolina:

• You’ve accumulated 7 or more points on your driving record, and the DMV has required you to take a course. The DMV will then remove 3 of those points once you complete the course.
• You’ve received a traffic ticket, and you wish to reduce or dismiss the points associated with the violation.

You can also take the course voluntarily if you’re looking to reduce your insurance rates!

To make things easier for you, we’ve researched all the requirements you’ll need to meet for each of these scenarios. You’ll find the list of steps below, so that your path to success is laid before you even head to court.

How to Satisfy a North Carolina Court or DMV Traffic School Requirement

1. Attend your court hearing, at which time you’ll receive instructions to complete a traffic school course. 

You may be notified of your 7-point accumulation at the time you receive your citation, or you may receive a mailed notice informing you of a date to appear before the court. In order to be eligible to take a driving safety course:

• You must hold a valid non-commercial North Carolina drivers license.
• Your violation must be non-alcohol-related.
• You may not have taken a traffic safety course within the past 5 years.

The judge will give you a deadline by which you must complete your traffic safety course.

2. Enroll in and complete I Drive Safely’s North Carolina traffic school course.

We offer 2 courses for North Carolina drivers:

• Our 4-Hour Traffic Safety Course is designated specifically for residents of Guilford and Wake Counties.
• Our 8-Hour Traffic Safety Course is intended for all other residents of North Carolina.

You may complete this course once every 5 years to remove points from your license.

3. Submit your certificate of completion to your local DMV office.

I Drive Safely will send you a completion certificate once you finish your course, which you may then mail or bring in to your court.

4. Check your driving record.

Make sure that the DMV has credited you for your traffic school course; once it’s been processed, it will appear on your driving record, and the points you had requested to reduce or erase will have been dismissed.

Frequently Asked Questions – 8 Hour Driving Safety Course in NC

General Info

1. Is your course approved by the state of North Carolina?

You must receive direct permission from your court or county clerk’s office to take our course.

2. I want to reduce points from my driving record, but I’m not sure if I’m eligible to take a North Carolina online traffic school course. How do I find out?

If you have accumulated 7 or more points on your driving record, the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will notify you and require you to complete a traffic safety course to reduce as many as 3 of those points.

If you have not received this notice and have received a traffic ticket, you may contact your court to ask permission to dismiss your ticket or points with one of these courses. Generally, you will be eligible if:

• You hold a valid non-commercial North Carolina drivers license
• Your citation is non-alcohol-related
• You have not taken a traffic safety course within the past 5 years
• You are between the ages of 15 and 21 (Wake County only)

If you still are unclear as to whether you qualify for traffic school, contact your court and request more information concerning your particular circumstances.

3. Which North Carolina traffic school courses do you offer?

We offer 2 courses that can help you clean up your North Carolina driving record:

• The North Carolina 4-Hour Traffic Safety course: For drivers in Guilford or Wake Counties who have received permission to attend a traffic school course (you must be 15-21 years of age in Wake County only)
• The North Carolina 8-Hour Traffic Safety course: For drivers in all other North Carolina counties who have received permission from their local court to attend traffic school for ticket or point dismissal.

4. How do I get my insurance discount?

You’ll need to contact your insurance provider to see if they offer a discount. Once you’ve completed the course, I Drive Safely will mail you a certificate of completion; you’ll need to submit your certificate to your insurance provider to get your discount.

Course Info

1. How long will this course take?

It depends! The course for drivers in Guilford or Wake counties is required to be 4 hours long; all other drivers must complete an 8-hour course.

2. What types of things will I study?

Each course is broken down into 8 chapters that focus on a single topic pertaining to North Carolina driving and traffic laws. These topics include:

• Highway safety
• Alcohol- and drug-impaired driving
• State traffic laws
• Driving emergencies
• Vehicle maintenance

3. Do I have to take a final exam?

Yes, you do. The course final consists of 25 multiple-choice questions, and you’ll need to get a score of 80% of higher to pass. The good news is that we make it as easy as possible for you. If you don’t pass your exam on the first try, you can retake it until you do!

4. Is there any way I can fail the course?

Nope! You have unlimited retakes on your chapter quizzes and final exam, so if you fail to achieve a passing score on your first try, you can take it again until you do.

5. Why does your course have timers?

This course is required by North Carolina courts to span 4 or 8 hours in length, depending upon your county of residence. To comply with these requirements, we (and all other online defensive driving schools) are required to place timers on each page of the course. We realize that some students may read faster than the timer will permit you to advance, but state regulations prohibit us from changing this function. The timers cannot be disabled for any reason.

6. Is there a calendar deadline to complete a North Carolina traffic school course?

Even though our courses are self-paced, you may be given a deadline to complete yours. These deadlines are typically determined by the North Carolina courts or DMV. While we allow you 90 days to complete your course, the court or DMV may require you to finish your course much sooner than that. Make sure to determine your court’s deadline before beginning the course.

Regardless of court deadlines, you must complete the course within 90 days of registration. Any student who has not successfully completed the course within 90 days will have their account terminated without notice, and will not be eligible for a refund.

7. What certificate delivery options do I have?

We’ll send your certificate of completion to you for free via U.S. Mail. If you need it sooner than that, we have other affordable delivery options, including e-mail delivery, direct download, and FedEx.