In Arizona there are certain traffic offenses that are considered to be criminal instead of civil. Under Title 28 of the Arizona Revised States (ARS), criminal offenses are punishable by a fine and/or jail sentence.

The traffic code goes on to list criminal speeding or excessive speed (more than 20 mph above the posted speed limit), reckless driving and driving under the influence as a few of the criminal traffic violations. There are other criminal violations, such as repeat DUIs and hit and run with serious injury or death, that are felonies.

Civil penalties for traffic offenses cannot exceed $250 and no jail time but criminal offenses have no standard fine amount. According to the Flagstaff Municipal court site, all fine amounts are determined by the judge.

Arizona is a member of the Drivers License Compact (DLC) though your home state of Wisconsin is not. Even without WI being part of the DLC Arizona and other states can share information with your home state's DMV and they can take action.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, no points are assessed for convictions of traffic offenses from other states but the conviction is entered on your Wisconsin driver record. The WI DOT also notes that if your out of state violation was for something more serious and which Wisconsin statute would have required a mandatory suspension or revocation of your license, such as driving under the influence, the Wisconsin DOT will take action against your license.

Arizona does allow for traffic school for some offenses. In Flagstaff the defensive driving program is an 8 hour classroom course on techniques for safer driving. Once completed, your citation will be dismissed and no points will be reported to the AZ Motor Vehicle Division.

To be eligible to participate in the defensive driving program the Flagstaff traffic court states that:

1. The citation must be for a civil traffic violation.
2. There must not have been an accident involving death or serious physical injury.
3. You must not have attended a defensive driving program within the last two years (violation date to violation date).
4. You must contact the court on or before your court date to inform them of your intentions.

So you cannot attend defensive driving school for this type of citation in Arizona since it is a criminal offense which you were written up for in the Navajo reservation. The Flagstaff Municipal court if you were issued a citation for a criminal traffic violation you must appear in court on the arraignment date listed on your copy of the citation (failure to do so will result in a warrant being issued for your arrest).

If you are convicted of the ticket as a criminal offense in AZ you will need to check with the Arizona courts to see how they will place it on the record for you in AZ and then also check with WI DOT to see if they will list this as a traffic infraction on your Wisconsin driving record or as a criminal offense.

Either way that it is listed on your Wisconsin driving record it could affect your insurance rates since you were traveling at such a high rate of speed and thus makes you more of a risk to your insurance carrier. How this ticket conviction will affect your insurance premiums will be up to your insurance company's rating system.You can find out about your insurer's rating system by speaking with your insurance agent.

Receive free auto insurance quotes for Wisconsin here.