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PHOENIX — Got a traffic ticket? Don't want to pay it or spend four hours in driving school?

Help may be on the way.

A provision buried in the package of bills for the 2010 budget would let errant motorists essentially buy their way out of trouble. They could pay a flat fee of $282 and walk away, with no ticket, no record — and no time lost.

The plan cleared its first hurdle this week when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved SB 1028. That legislation makes a series of changes in laws dealing with the criminal code, ranging from surcharges on criminal fines to a mandate to the Department of Corrections to seek bids to get a private firm to run three of its prisons.

And on Page 17 of the 35-page bill, which awaits action by the full Senate, there is the new language about defensive driving schools.

How much extra it would cost to buy out of traffic school depends on where a motorist was ticketed.

Someone stopped in most Maricopa County communities could pay as little as $150 for the four-hour course, including all the necessary surcharges. In Tucson, fees range from $205 to a maximum of $255. Motorists ticketed in Flagstaff could be charged as much as $235.

Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, defended the provision.

"If you really look at defensive-driving schools, there's no empirical evidence they do any good," he said.

Arizona law says motorists cited for most violations have three options: Plead innocent and go to trial, plead guilty and pay the fine, or pay to go to defensive-driving classes.

Successful completion of the class — which essentially means staying awake — wipes out the citation. Potentially more significant for some, it also means no points against the motorist's license. And the ticket is not reported to insurance companies, which could use the incident to hike premiums or cancel coverage.

There are limits.

Motorists involved in criminal traffic offenses like drunken driving or speeding 20 miles or more over the limit are ineligible, as are those who get into accidents that cause serious injury or death. And drivers are eligible to wipe out the tickets this way only once every 24 months.

Pearce said not everyone who gets cited needs to go to class.

"One ticket for 11 (miles per hour) over in 40 years does not make one a bad driver," he said.

And Pearce said that if the aim of the classes is to deter people from breaking the law in the future, making them pay a stiff penalty is just as effective as making them sit through four hours of lessons.

"We're just going to abuse your afternoon," he said. "Instead of being at your kid's T-ball game, we're going to make you sit your heinie in a class Saturday."

Some other legislators don't see it that way.

"So if you're rich, you can buy your way out?" asked Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix. "That is not fair."

Sinema said she attended one of those schools after getting a photo radar ticket. Did it make her a better driver?

"I think so, although I think a large part of my becoming a better driver also comes with age," she said. "I'm still not a great driver, I'll be very honest."

Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, also has been to traffic school, having been clocked by a Tucson police officer driving eight miles per hour over the speed limit. But Antenori, vice chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said he doesn't think the experience made him a better driver.

Despite that, Antenori said he's not sure that people should be able to buy their way out of having to sit in the class.

He said maybe that should be an option for someone speeding just a little over the speed limit. Antenori said the motorist likely knew he or she was speeding and won't learn anything new.

But someone who "blows through a red light" and endangers someone else, he said, should not have that option.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, said he doesn't think the ability — or willingness — to pay an extra fee should determine who does and does not have to go to traffic school.

Biggs said, though, he might be willing to consider an alternative scheme that would require all students be given a test of their knowledge of traffic laws at the beginning of a class. Anyone who scored 100 percent would be able to walk away without having to sit through the next four hours, though that person would still pay the fee.