I got pulled over on the day we moved into our first house here in Texas. I had just returned the rental truck and was heading back to the house on Westheimer. I have never known the speed limit on Westheimer; it always seemed like you couldn’t go fast enough to speed anyway due to the traffic. I was caught going 50 in a 40 and pulled over. I pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car to speak to the officer. He asked why I was getting out of the car, and told me to get back in the car. I didn’t have my latest insurance card in the car, so he tacked that onto the ticket, but assured me that if I brought proof of insurance to court, the judge would remove that infraction and charge from the ticket. Apparently this is a Texas driving law that I was not aware of. He was cool (not “this is a warning” cool, but cool compared to some other experiences in the past).

I went to my court date and sat and waited while being treated like a child (no hat, no talking, no phone, etc). When it was my turn, I showed the judge my insurance card, she removed the charge and I paid the speeding ticket on my way out. The court process was a pain as most government run things are…

I completed my texas defensive driving on www.texasdefensivedrivingcommission.com and had the ticket removed from my record, while also updating my insurance discount.

It has been 368 days since I last got a speeding ticket. (I only know this because it was the day we moved into our house).

-Jason C.

We have had much experience developing and putting together Texas Defensive Driving Online Courses. Over the years we have come across some of the key items that you need in a Texas Defensive Driving Course. Below are some of those key items.

The first thing you have to do when putting together a Texas Defensive Driving course is figure out the best way to balance out TEA Approved content with usability for your customers. There can be a fine line with putting exciting, fresh new content together to keep your customer happy and keeping the state happy.

Secondly, the state of Texas requires third party verification of your defensive driving students. Therefore, you must decide whether you want to go with the DPS database or another third party database to verify your students information.

The next step is the most complicated, but most rewarding part….putting your Texas Defensive Driving Course together. You must assemble all of your content in the most easy to use and most exciting way possible. One way this course has been layed out is using exciting flash animations, easy to read statistics, and fun graphics.

The last step is to contact the State of Texas (TEA) and have them go through your Texas Defensive Driving Course for their approval. They will look to make sure the content itself follows the state requirements, that your course flows properly, that the timers work properly, and that your testing, including personal verification, multimedia questions, and test questions are set in place and working.

All in all, designing a Texas Defensive Driving Course can be a long and extensive process, but the end results can be very rewarding.

I once received a ticket for going 12 miles over the speed limit in Texas.  I was driving down I-10 and I was in one of those tunnel-vision modes, just cruising along.  A Texas State Trooper pulled up behind me and to be honest I didn’t even realize it until I was getting pulled over.

So I go to court and request to take a Texas Defensive Driving Course.  Like most others I started getting the cards in the mail, and I decided to go and take one of the courses because of the free pizza offered.

Here I am sitting in this dusty old classroom with a teacher mumbling out different Texas Laws and Regulations, the whole time thinking how mad I was that I got caught speeding.  This was not a fun experience.  The only thing I could think of is how good that pizza was going to taste.  The pizza was delivered 20 minutes before our break, so by the time we were ready to eat it was cold.  So there it was, boring stuffy class, cold pizza, and that state trooper was probably home sleeping on this Saturday.

Needless to say over the years I’ve gotten a few more speeding tickets.  I’ve started to take Online Texas Defensive Driving Courses now instead of those classroom ones.  I personally like how much easier it is.

-John Shifton
-Texas Driver

Texas Senate Bill 153 states that it is illegal to be intoxicated, sleep, or engage in any activity that prevents another passenger in the vehicle while accompanying a driver with a learners permit from observing and responding to the actions of the driver of the vehicle.

This means that if you are in Texas and a person driving the vehicle that you are in only has a drivers permit, and the accompanying driver is up in the front, you can’t smack them around from the back.  You can’t be intoxicated or sleep.  Keep your eyes on the road!

Did you know Texas Drivers over the age of 84 are required to pas a vision test every two years in order to get their Texas Drivers License Renewed?  This is House Bil 84, known as Katie’s Law.

In addtion, drivers that are older than 78 are not allowed to renew their drivers license by mail, internet or telephone, and also must pass a vision test.  This is most likely because they proabably don’t know how to use those items (just kidding, sorry for the bad joke), but it is part of the law.

The texas Defensive Driving Commission is an organization that provides Texas Defensive Driving Course to those who need to take defensive driving for ticket dimissal or insurance discounts.

With the popularity of Online Texas Defensive Driving Courses, the Texas DDC decided that defensive driving courses need not to be the same old boring content as they have been for years and years.  This course is always updated with up-to-date information, videos, and multimedia.  Gone are the days of watching that old video from the 1970’s about auto accidents.  We strive to keep the content updated and fresh.

This course is state approved by the Texas Eduation Agency, which means you can take the course and get your tickets dismissed, or send in your certifiate of completion to your insurance agency for a discounted insurance rate.

All we do is Defensive Driving and Driving Safety Courses!  We focus our energy and time 100% on the Online Defensive Driving Course.  This means you get our entire focus on you, our customer!

Customer satisfaction is our top priority.  And with over 1.5 million customers that have taken our course today, we feel that we have succeeded where many have failed.

Despite the popularity of online defensive driving schools in Texas, not all are created equal.  There are some major items to look for when choosing a proper course.  Below are some of the major mistakes you can make when looking for an online defensive drivin course in Texas.

Choosing A Course Not Approved by the TEA

The TEA, or Texas Education Agency, is the governing body of all eduational material in the state of Texas.  In order to provide Texas Defensive Driving certificates, you must be a TEA Approved Defensive Driving Course.   If you take a course that is not approved by the TEA, you will not be able to get your ticket dismissed, and may not be eligable for your insurance discounts.

To know if a course is approved by the texas education agency, be sure they provide their Defensive Driving Course Number.  This course number is CP225

Not providing the Correct Court Information

One item that is of great importance when signup up for a Texas Defensive Driving Course is that you provide accurate information when signing up.  You must have your county and court information, along with your drivers license and license plate information.  This informaiton will be printed on your certificate of completion.  Providing any of this information incorrectly could result in the court not accepting your certficate of completion.

Not getting Approved by your Court to Take the Texas Defensive Driving Course

This may seem like common sense to many people, but very often we have seen people take a Texas Defensive Driving Class before the court has approved them to take it.  If you do this, the course will not be accepted.  You will have to re-take the course and you will have to pay for it again.

Not ordering your Driving Record

Most courts in the state of Texas require that you provide your Texas Driving Record when taking a defensive driving course.  It is not required to take the course itself, but you must mail it in, or take it with you when you provide your certificate of completion to the court.  **Please contact your court for their own specific instructions.

Taking a course that is not Fun or Informative

Many Texas Defensive Driving Courses are provided with the same old boring dribble of information.  Be sure your course is provided with interactive media, fun and exciting graphics, and informative informaiton.  There is no reason you can’t take Texas Defensive Driving and not have fun while doing it.