Houston Texas Traffic Violations
Without question, the best way to avoid the problems that come with a traffic ticket is simply to avoid violating the traffic laws. Unfortunately, that is not always the situation we find ourselves in. if you are pulled over in Houston Texas for violating a traffic law, you can expect to become the proud recipient of a traffic violation, courtesy of your Houston Texas law enforcement.
The citation you receive will have several pieces of important information on it. First, it will provide you with a court date. You will need this date in the event you wish to attend a Texas Education Agency (TEA) approved Houston Texas defensive driving course, dispute the ticket or if your violation is serious enough in nature that you are required to appear in court. Also, if you are under 18, Texas law will usually require you to appear in court with your parents or legal guardian.
Second, the citation will provide you with contact information for the Houston Texas court handling your traffic violation. No matter how you plan to handle your citation, you must call the Houston Texas court within ten days of being issued the citation, or risk heavier fines and penalties. If you fail to call or show up in person to the Houston Texas court for long enough, a bench warrant will be put out for your arrest. Do not let this happen. Contact the Houston Texas court stated on your ticket immediately after being issued a citation.
When you contact the Houston Texas court, you will also find out how to pay your citation. Counties differ within Texas so you should ask the Houston Texas court handling your ticket what payment methods are available and if you are eligible to attend a Houston Texas ticket dismissal course such as GetDefensive.com.
Suspension of Texas Driving Privileges
The points you accumulate through the Texas Driver Responsibility Program add up quickly. If you incur just six points in three years-- one traffic violation per year-- the Texas Department of Public Safety will suspend your Texas driving privileges. You can also face suspension if you avoid tallying too many points but are labeled as a "habitual offender." Houston Texas drivers who incur four violations in two years or 7 in four years are considered habitual offenders by the state of Texas and face suspension of their Texas driving privileges. If you are a juvenile driver under 18 years of age, your driving privileges can be revoked for just two traffic violations in a single year. The violations counting toward a habitual offender moniker, just like points accumulation, include all out of state offenses that would have qualified had they been issued in Houston Texas.
The cost of having your driving privileges reinstated can be hefty and will pile on top of the fines for your most recent violation as well as the costs of appearing in court to defend yourself. It is in your best interest and the best interests of your wallet that you avoid accumulating traffic violations on your Texas driver record.
Houston Texas Defensive Driving Programs
Should you find yourself in any of the precarious situations above, a Houston Texas defensive driving program may be able to help you avoid the unfortunate consequences. The Texas Education Agency allows Houston Texas drivers to attend a Houston Texas driver safety program, including the Houston Texas online defensive driving courses offered by Getdefensive.com, in order to have up to one traffic violation per year expunged from their Texas Department of Public Safety driving record. In order to receive this benefit, however, you must first receive permission from the Houston Texas court handling your violation when you call in or appear in court. This permission is not guaranteed, however, and will likely be based on the cleanliness of your Texas driving record to date, as well as the severity of your most recent violation. Also, if you have taken ten defensive driving programs and are back for your eleventh, a Houston Texas court may feel that you need a different form of rehabilitation in order to improve your safe driving habits.
However, most often you will be given an opportunity to have the violation removed from your Texas driver record. If you are given such an opportunity, a Houston Texas internet driver safety or Houston Texas internet driver improvement program will not only remove the violation from your record, but will also eliminate the points that would have attached to your record as a result of your guilty plea or conviction. These benefits come in addition to the considerable costs you will avoid by not being labeled a habitual offender or having your Texas drivers license temporarily suspended.
Houston Texas Insurance Discounts
A Houston Texas driver has much to gain by keeping a clean driving record through participation in a Houston Texas online driver safety program such as those offered by Getdefensive.com, beyond simply avoiding a suspended license. Online Houston Texas defensive driving programs teach valuable safe driving techniques and foster defensive driving habits that will help you avoid your next traffic violation. Additionally, in the event you find yourself incurring a traffic violation in the future, a Houston Texas court is much more likely to offer you a chance to have that violation wiped when your Texas driver record is clean and you have shown yourself to be committed to safe driving by enrolling in a Houston Texas online defensive driving program like Getdefensive.com. Getdefensive.com offers many forms of home-study Texas defensive driving courses, including Houston Texas online defensive driving, Houston Texas DVD video defensive driving and Houston Texas streaming video defensive driving which can be viewed on your home computer.
A clean Texas driving record also keep you eligible for up to a 10% insurance reduction. Insurance providers base the premiums you pay on your Houston Texas driving experience and your history of traffic violation. Texas law protects you as an insurance owner from having your rates raised each time you pay a traffic ticket. However, Houston Texas insurance carriers are not entitled to cover you if you show yourself to be a habitually bad driver. Also, after three citations you insurance carrier is allowed by law to cancel your coverage immediately. If that happens, it is highly unlikely that your next carrier will offer you a low or moderate price. Keeping your driving record clean and having the experience of completing a Houston Texas online defensive driving program will help you avoid costly hikes in your insurance coverage.
Houston Texas Mature Driver and Houston Texas Juvenile Driver Insurance Discounts
Houston Texas drivers over the age of 55 and juvenile drivers under the age of 18 have an added incentive to enroll in a Houston Texas online defensive driving program: insurance discounts. To promote safe driving, most auto insurers provide additional discounts to both older and younger Texas drivers. If you are a driver under the age of 18 or a parents of a juvenile driver, or you are a mature driver of the age of 55, contact your auto insurance provider to find out if an online driver safety program will help you secure an insurance reduction even before any accident or traffic violation has occurred. This active approach may not just result in lower premiums now, but help keep them low in the event of a future traffic citation.
Houston Texas Classroom Driver Safety Schools
Some people prefer learning in a traditional classroom setting to the ease of taking a Houston Texas defensive driving program from the comfort of their own home. If you would like to participate in a driver safety program to help lower your insurance costs, to remove a traffic violation from your Texas driving record or because you were ordered to do so by a Houston Texas court, you should ask the Houston Texas court overseeing your citation and they will be happy to provide you with a list of brick and mortar traffic schools in and around Houston Texas when you call into discuss your citation.