Driving record points are the only kind of points that you don't want to score. Think about it. It does no good for you as a driver/insurance payer/car owner. Having more points on a driving record will make your life harder. This is especially true if you are a new/teen driver.

Teen drivers get a bad rap due to their inexperience, but with a little help and guidance, they will be able to avoid points on their driving record by doing a few simple things.

Here are some ways to make sure that you avoid points on your driving record.

Keep check of your driving record – Always make sure your driving record is accurate. It's far too easy to forget dates when it comes to tickets or parking infractions.

Parking infractions – Speaking of parking infractions: check your local county if parking infractions goes down in your driving history. Make sure there are no unpaid parking citations and you should be able to avoid points.

Traffic tickets – This is truly easier said than done: drive safe. Always be updated with your local laws including school zones, stop signs or red lights. Driving safe not only keeps you and other motorists safe, but it is also the way to not get traffic or speeding tickets. A traffic ticket may spell doom, depending on your county. Just one might get your driving privileges in trouble.

Take a Texas defensive driving course online – A court-approved defensive driving course will actually help you remove points off your driving record. It's a great way to refresh your memory on driving safety skills. It is also a great way to remove up to four points, keeping your driving record unblemished.

Be nice – No matter how right you think you are or how angry you get, always be nice to an officer of the law when you get pulled over. Some people get into more trouble by trying to defend their mistakes. If the mistake is a minor one, sometimes you will be lucky enough to get off with a warning. It is also worth noting that being nice to your fellow motorists/people on and off the road will get you all sorts of good things in life.

Labels: defensive driving, defensive driving course, driving record, texas defensive driving, texas driver record, texas traffic ticket

Obtaining a driver's license in Texas is already a feat in itself, keeping a driver record clean is another thing. One might, even unintentionally, get a ticket. What this entails is fees for the ticket, a court appearance, a hit on a driver's insurance and points to his/her driver record.

Getting a Ticket, Paying Fines and Traffic School

When you hear sirens behind you, you have to slow down and hear what the officer has to say. Once a ticket is issued to a driver in Texas, he/she has 10 days to respond to it. Either pay it, or contact the local court. (Contact information for the court will be given once a ticket has been issued.)

Usually, the officer that issues the ticket may inform the driver of options on paying their fines. Contacting the court and asking questions on how to handle the ticket will help. Courts take personal checks, cash, debit cards or credit cards. It varies from county-to-county and court-to-court.

There will be an option to take a TX defensive driving course online to hopefully dismiss the ticket. This will lower points that a driver receives on his driving record, and may also give a discount for insurance. Although if a driver has been going over 95 mph, this option will not be available.

License Suspension

If a driver has been caught driving irresponsibly several times, the license might get suspended. Usually the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) will inform the driver of the suspension. A driver may also order a copy of his/her driving record, to find out a driver's status.

One might contest to obtain a restricted license (for going to work/school/household errands) by contacting the district court that issued the license suspension in the first place.

Driver Responsibility Program

Much like New York, Texas has a driver responsibility program to help enforce their safe driving policies. What this means is, once a driver obtains 6 or more points in his/her driving record, there will be an annual fee, also called a surcharge, to be paid. This could range from $100 a year to a surprising $2000 a year for up to 3 years.

Driving safe, keeping smart, or maybe voluntarily electing to take a defensive driving course will help drivers avoid all the hassles of tickets, fines, suspension and surcharges. Just make sure to be updated on county laws.

Read more about How to Dismiss your Texas Speeding Ticket

Labels: defensive driving, defensive driving course, texas defensive driving, traffic school, traffic ticket, tx speeding ticket, tx traffic ticket

While getting a speeding ticket in Texas is never a happy occasion, drivers can mitigate the effects of the speeding ticket by taking a defensive driving course. In addition to not having points added to the violator's driving record and avoiding an auto insurance increase, drivers can use the course to refresh their driving skills and evaluate their current driving behavior.

Here are the steps to follow to have your Texas speeding ticket dismissed and reap all the benefits of a Texas online defensive driving course:


Step One: Check your speeding ticket for your court date. You must ask the court for permission to take a defensive driving course for ticket dismissal, in person or via US mail, by the appearance date indicated on your ticket. You must submit a completed copy of the Affidavit form with your signature notarized, proof of valid non-commercial Texas driver’s license, the court administrative fee, and a copy of your insurance policy when requesting permission to take the defensive driving course for speeding ticket dismissal.


Step Two: Once the court grants permission for you to take the course, you’ll have 90 days to complete the course and submit your certificate of completion to the court. Conveniently, the Texas ticket dismissal course is offered online. So your next step is to register for and take the Texas defensive driving course. If you take the course online, you don’t have to take it all at once; you can log in and out of the course as many times as necessary. Your place in the course will be saved so the next time you log in, you can just pick up where you left off in the previous session.


Step Three: After you complete the speeding ticket course, the school will issue a certificate of completion. The certificate will be sent to you for you to submit to the court; by Texas law, the school can't do that for you. You may need to send a copy of your driving record to the court with your certificate; check with the county that has jurisdiction over the speeding ticket to be sure. If a copy of your driving record is required and you don't send it, the TX speeding ticket dismissal process could be delayed. Be sure to submit the certificate by the deadline imposed by the court.


Tips to Dismiss your Traffic Ticket

1. In the state of Texas, you may to take a defensive driving course once every 12 months to dismiss a traffic ticket.


2. The court may allow you to pay your speeding ticket fine online; check with the court's website.


3. The points you receive for a speeding ticket in Texas will remain on your driving record for a period of three years; however, you can avoid having the points assessed if you take a defensive driving course.


4. Even if you haven't received a ticket, you can take a defensive driving course to have points removed from your Texas driver's license and to receive insurance discounts.

Labels: defensive driving, online defensive driving tx, texas defensive driving, texas speeding ticket, texas traffic ticket, traffic ticket, traffic ticket dismissal, tx traffic ticket