A while ago i got a speeding ticket for going 11mph over the limit on the hardy toll road. I tried to explain that I was in a hurry to get the Mutumbo Bobble Fingers at TCs game. It was cute and almost got me out of a ticket, but to my misfortune, I also had a headlight that was out (which is probably the real reason I was pulled over amongst the cars breaking the limit on the toll way). The officer decided to give me a warning on the headlight, but wrote me a ticket for speeding. Now I havent got a ticket in quite some time, but in my younger years I was quite the horrible driver. Ive done everything from defensive driving, to deffered ajudification (sp?), to even the old show up and pray court date switch a roo. I was just wondering if anyone with some more recent experience could give me some suggestions on the most painless way to deal with this ticket. I saw on the back that I may even contact the court and ask for defensive driving so I dont have to show up to the court date??? Any suggestions?
I got one last night. Dammit. Defensive driving is essentially "just pay the fine, serve some jail time and we'll take it off your record". You're going to pay a fee of $103 for the right to take defensive driving, and then another $40 for the actual course. Same as paying the $150 ticket. Plus, believe me, the defensive driving course is like serving jail time. It's LONG and it blows goats. Unfortunately you have to request defensive driving BEFORE your court date. So if you show up at court and your officer is there waiting for you, you're screwed.
You could take defensive driving courses online. I think I did this for my dad like 5 years ago when he got a ticket. You should have showed more cleavage.
You could go to court and ask the judge or assistant D.A. to give you defered judification. You pay the fine, but as long as you don't get a ticket in X amount of days, it stays off your record. It's what I did when I got a ticket for 32 miles over the speed limit and Defensive Driving was out of the question.
I'm going to comedy defensive driving this Saturday. It's only 28 bucks and is the same amount of time I'll have to spend watching the DVD or doing it online. Plus, it's at a Mexican restaurant, so maybe I'll get a free lunch out of it. My ticket would have been $295, so it's worth it. So Gummi...did they run out of bobble fingers?
Go to Randals or blockbuster and do the take home defensive driving over the internet. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy ! DD
I am dealing with a recent ticket. I got a ticket going to the Lakers game in December. 52 in a 40 at the Jefferson exit off of 45 South. http://www.houstontx.gov/courts/index.html I sent the $103 in the mail, following alll the rules on that site. Driving Safety Course was allowed and I was given 3 months from the court date to complete. You have to get a copy of your driving record form Austin and do the class, get it notarized and mail back in. I'm going to do the DSC on Time Warner and mail it back in and, outside getting it notarized, I didn't have to leave home to do it.
If you haven't taken defensive driving in a while, i'd recommend that. Typically it'll lower your insurance by 10% when you do it, so you're actually saving money in the long run. Of course, I haven't taken it in a while. I think my last moving violation was over 10 years ago.
check on deferred adjudication first, if not good, then do the def driving. either of these needs to be lined up before the court date. I just got done with the deferred adjudication, then got another speeding ticket and will be doing def driving. I'm snakebit lately.
I got my first ticket in 10 years yesterday for running a stop sign in my little neighborhood. Now the challenge is to take defensive driving without my wife finding out about any of it. I hope she doesn't read this thread...
i would guess even with deferred adjudication you would still need to pay the $100 right? my court date is very soon. im wondering if i should just show up and pray the officer does not.
I've heard that brining an attractive woman with loose morals and a preference for guys in uniforms can help you get out of a speeindg ticket... or you could always, you know, stop speeding.
And the only time I was on it, I still had to take defensive driving. Just show up for your court date, request defensive driving and get it over with. It sucks, but it ain't the end of the world.
yes, you have to pay whatever the deferred adjudication fine is and then not get a ticket in X amount of time (all this varies depending on the court). It basically saves you from having to sit throught the def driving class(online, video or in person, all 6 hours). By doing def driving you do get the 10% insurance discount though
I hired a ticket lawyer for my last speeding ticket. The ticket was for $180 and I paid the firm $106 for thier services. They changed the court date for me, but I had to show up on the revised date and sit for an hour for them to call out my name to tell me the ticket was dismissed. Pretty easy indeed.
OK, as a law school student I have learned about a dirty little secret regarding traffic tickets in Houston. It's a giant racket. Hire a traffic atty. He delays the "hearing" before the judge. He tells the cop to go away for a few hours when all the cases he handles are on the docket. Case dismissed. That may not be exactly how they do it but it is something like that. Find a traffic lawyer, pay a little extra. Get away with it.
