Daily Archives: June 30, 2016

A Look into the Do’s and Don’ts of Speeding Tickets

I’m sitting in my office right now, on a Friday afternoon, miserable because I have to complete a 6 hour online Driver’s Safety Course for a speeding ticket that I got in Dallas in April.  If I complete the Drivers Safety Course, my speeding ticket will be dismissed.  So even though I would prefer being outside hitting some golf balls, or spending time with family, I know that I have to get this done. Keeping your driving record clean is just as important as keeping your criminal record clean.

Even though I do not actively practice traffic ticket defense, I know that the best advice is to NEVER pay a traffic ticket.  Traffic tickets that are paid are convictions and turn into points on your driving record.  For example, speeding 10 mph over the speed limit will cause you to get 2 points on your driving record.  Points can lead to surcharges for your driver’s license, driver’s license suspensions, higher insurance rates, etc.

What do I do if I got a Speeding Ticket?

Generally the best practice if you get a speeding ticket is to immediately ask for a jury trial.  You can do this yourself, or you can hire a ticket attorney relatively cheap.  If the officer doesn’t show up on the day of trial the ticket is dismissed, and this happens more than you would expect.  If the officer does show up, than you still have the option to work something out with the prosecutor.  Usually this will be a deferred adjudication probation and a fee that is generally less than paying the ticket.  A deferred is different for a class C misdemeanor.  You don’t actually get a probation officer, you don’t report monthly, don’t take drug tests, etc.  They just tell you not to get in trouble (get another ticket) for 90 days and your case will be dismissed.

In my case, it was too much of a pain to actually show up in court to fight the ticket, or hope the officer doesn’t show up.  Luckily I haven’t had a traffic ticket in a while so I had the option to pay a fee of $109 and take a $25 online class to get it dismissed.  I won’t have to go to Dallas for anything, I can just do everything by mail.  So now here I am, watching videos, taking tests, and paying for my speed.  If you are looking for a point to this blog, its: NEVER PAY A TICKET!