FFffuuuuu ... First TX speeding ticket...



Got a speeding ticket in Wells Co (84/70) and the clerk mailed me a form to fill out/sign/notarize and send back with money, DL copy, POI, etc.



The clerk seemed busy and I didn't think to ask all the questions I should have, so here I am



It has a check box for pleading either "guilty" or "Nolo Contendre", I don't think it even matters here but thought I would ask before I pissed off a judge.



Do I need to take the DD test before sending this back?  I already bought the DD video tapes from Blockbuster but it looks like a lot more than the hour or two I expected.



I'm mostly concerned about this messing with my insurance.  I've been told that this will be kept off my record if I don't have a violation within the next year.  Will this be on my record until a year has elapsed?



BTW, the trooper was efficient/nice enough not to drag the stop out any longer than needed, was on my way in ten minutes



Sneaky as hell hiding spot, saw the shiny B&W hood flash as I passed him.  Can usually spot these guys way ahead.



Thanks in advance

never plead guilty

Always no contest

The DD stuff takes forever.


They way it always worked for me was I had to plead, take defensive driving , then take the course completion certificate back to the county clerk.  Your basically on probation for a year.  After a year it gets wiped from the record.

The only significant diffence between pleading no contest and guilty is that a plea of no contest cannot be used against you in a civil matter whereas pleading guilty could.  If you were involved in a crash and cited, then plead guilty to the offense, that plea could be used against you in a civil trial.  A plea of guilty is an admission of guilt.  A plea of no contest is not an admission of guilt, but you will be found guilty.  If there isn't a crash involved it makes no difference which plea you make as you will be found guilty with either one.

To take a Driving Safety Course (commonly called defensive driving) you make a request to the court.  Once your request is granted you have 90 days to complete the course, receive the certificate of completion, get a copy of your driving record (type 3A), and get the driving record and certificate turned in to the court.  Your case is then dismissed and there is nothing else to do. By law, all courses have to be six hours long.  The on-line classes are designed so that you can't do them faster.  You can take a DSC one every 12 months to have most moving violations dismissed.  

Deferred Disposition (incorrectly called probation or deferred adjudication) is not the same as DSC.  The longest a deferred disposition can be for class C misdemeanors (99% of traffic offenses) is 180 days.  A court may require a DSC as a condition of deferred, but it is not the same as taking DSC to have a traffic charge dismissed.

Even if you had spotted us way ahead....we already had you.

I hate writing tickets....I do it rarely now.

Thanks SJ!  The copy the clerk mailed me was a copy of a copy of a copy ^10, couldn't read half of it





Got everything mailed out today, finished the DD course.  I thought I could get over on them but they're pretty good at making sure you have to watch the tapes to answer some questions correctly (asking details about specific stories, statistics (which don't match google btw ), or which expert talked about what subject).  Can't do it any faster than six hours anyway, the website won't let you log in for quizzes until you've had time to watch the next segment + 12 minutes (to the second).




Tedious but not near as bad as the ones they showed during school 20 years ago.

I have had a system