Got a speeding ticket?Every year millions of drivers across Texas get
speeding tickets for a variety of reasons. Regardless of the particular moving violation, most violators are required by the court to take a
Texas defensive driving course to dismiss the ticket. What options does a driver have to fulfill this court mandated requirement?
- Find a classroom course
- Take a course over the internet
Why take a defensive driving course online?
Historically, the classroom course was the only option available to ticketed drivers. The internet, as with many other businesses, has revolutionized the driver safety industry. Today, drivers can complete a Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved defensive driving course completely over the Internet on a PC or laptop from the comfort of their home, office, library, or wherever there is online capability. Can you imagine taking a Texas defensive driving course in your hotel room from your laptop, while on a business trip? This can be extremely convenient for someone who has better ways to spend their weekends, or time off!
State Law requires that an approved Texas defensive driving course be 6 hours in length. This requirement has not changed. The difference that online defensive driving courses provide is that drivers can now accumulate the 6 hours, through a login/logout process that makes the course completely self paced. The course will pick up right where the user last logged out. It is amazingly simple!
Choosing a quality online course
As is the case with other online industries, there are numerous entrepreneurs converging on the industry to make a quick buck, and Texas defensive driving online is no different. Over the last few years there are more and more sites popping up offering this great new service to ticketed customers. Unfortunately for the end user, not all online defensive driving courses are the same. Many online courses are just purely text based and require the user to read all 6 hours worth of material. This can be extremely boring. Although having some text is necessary to allow for the self paced nature of the course, a few web sites offer video and animation segments to work in conjunction with the text to provide interesting and educational additions to the program. Be careful of the extremely discounted courses as they are more than likely pure text based.
Step by Step process after receiving a speeding ticket
After receiving a speeding ticket, a driver must first find out if they are eligible to take a Texas defensive driving course. Certain violations, such as speeding in a school zone or work zone, or speeding in excess of 25 mph, will require an appearance on the court date printed on the ticket to receive judge approval. With all other moving violations defensive driving is an option the court or judge can allow as long as the driver has not taken a course within the past 12 months for ticket dismissal purposes. If a driver has taken a course for insurance discount purposes, they are still eligible to take a course again for ticket dismissal (with judge approval). Here are the options for requesting to take a Texas defensive driving course:
- Appear on the stated court date to request in person before a judge
- Complete the back portion of the ticket to request and mail back to court(most counties)
- Request by mail (example of Houston defensive driving request form) * if completing the back of the ticket is not available
- Hire attorney to appear before the court to request
Most courts will also require a check or money order for the court fee (stated on the ticket), proof of insurance, and a driver's license copy, to be included with the defensive driving request. After successfully requesting to take a Texas defensive driving course, most courts will give the driver notice that they have 90 days to successfully complete a Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved driver safety course. Due to the convenient nature of the online courses available today, 90 days is quite liberal.
Finishing Up
Whether a driver decides to take a Texas defensive driving course by classroom or over the internet, they will receive a completion certificate after 6 hours of instruction and passing the final exam. This certificate will be sent by mail by the online course provider or in person for classrooms, and it is the responsibility of the driver to send a copy of this certificate to the court as proof of completion. Don't wait until the last minute! Most companies will also send a duplicate copy that can be sent to most auto insurance providers for a driver safety course discount.
Some courts will may also require these items to be sent with the completion certificate:
- Affidavit (this is to prove that the driver has not taken a defensive driving course in the past 12 month, and must be notarized)
- Driving Record
Online is the most convenient and flexible way to complete a Texas defensive driving course today! Hope this is helpful.
