I Received a Traffic Ticket in Texas - What Are My Options?

If you receive a speeding ticket or other moving violation, do not make the mistake of simply paying the ticket. If you do that, your insurance premium is sure to rise, and you will be effectively ignoring the available options to dispense of the ticket in a cheaper fashion.

Your first option should always be taking defensive driving, which is generally available in Texas if you were not speeding over 25 miles per hour over the limit. Defensive driving is something that used to be more of a hassle because you would have to physically attend a course for six hours. However, now several Internet options are available that you can take over days or even weeks at your leisure. For example, you can register for courses at sites such as www.defensivedriving.com, www.defensivedrivingtexas.com, or www.getdefensive.com. To be eligible for defensive driving in Texas, you cannot have taken defensive driving for the previous year, and you must provide a copy of your insurance to the court.. You will also have to pay a fee around $60 to $100 dollars in order to take defensive driving. However, this fee is a small price to pay in order to remove the ticket from your record and to relieve any worries about increased insurance costs. In fact, by taking a defensive driving course, most insurance companies will provide you with some sort of reward or small discount.

If you are not eligible for defensive driving, or if you simply do not wish to sit through a defensive driving course, another option is to request deferred adjudication from the court. Deferred adjudication is a procedure in which you will pay the cost of the ticket in full plus an additional deferred adjudication fee. Choosing this option will put you on a three-month or so probationary period where you cannot receive another traffic violation. If you successfully complete the deferred period, the ticket will not appear on your record. However, if you receive a violation during the probationary period, the ticket will stay on your record. Even if your ticket does not indicate that deferred adjudication is an option, don't assume that the option is unavailable. Instead, contact the clerk of the court to further explore this procedure. In fact, most Texas courts will ask you to write a letter to the court requesting deferred adjudication, and for the most part, these requests are granted.

An additional option is to simply challenge the ticket. By challenging the ticket, you will be requesting a trial date, and the court will notify you of the setting. Of course, you should probably only challenge the ticket if you truly believe that you received the ticket unjustly, and if you feel comfortable testifying about the matter. If you challenge the ticket, and then ultimately lose at trial, you will probably be responsible for the full ticket amount plus court costs. On the other hand, in most counties, if the police officer does not show up for trial, your ticket will be automatically dismissed. However, you should not go through the process expecting this to be a fool-proof solution to your ticket woes. For instance, most counties track police officer attendance in courts, and the officers are required to be there as part of their jobs.

As always, if you have any questions regarding your ticket, or if your ticket is becoming more than a simple and routine matter for you, you should contact an attorney.