This Blog was brought to you by the San Antonio Traffic Ticket Attorney Gordon Slade 210-820-3033
DEFENSIVE DRIVING SCHOOL
Texas state law permits drivers to take defensive driving to dismiss one traffic ticket every 12 months. The State of Texas requires defensive driving online courses to take a minimum of 6 hours to complete. In compliance with the state, our Texas Defensive Driving course is 5 hours of material with 1 hour of total break time and may be completed at your own pace.
If you complete a Defensive Driving course, your insurance company will not find out about your ticket and the DMV will not access a point against your license. You are not eligible to take a defensive driving course for the following violations:
Passing a school bus or not stopping for one.
Not having car insurance when you drive.
Construction zone violations.
Speeding that exceeds 25 mph above the limit.
Sometimes an attorney can get traffic school when you cannot. Strange but true.
If you have no points against your license and you are charged with driving at less than the maximum state speed, a violation of the Basic Speed Law, and radar or laser was involved, you should seriously consider fighting the ticket.
The reason for considering going to trial is because the police officer can legally hide and use his radar or laser device. However, the police officer will have a very, very difficult time proving the case at trial. The reason it’s so tough to get a conviction at trial is that there are many powerful laws that, if used, and the judge obeys the law, your chances of winning at trial are excellent!
The police officer is not a prosecutor, only a witness for the prosecution. Most courts will not have a prosecutor against you. The police officer is not a lawyer and will not be prepared, and can not argue against the tough and excellent laws that favor you.
Most police officers only have to contend with people representing themselves who will not know all the laws that make the case so hard to prove. Most of the time, its like shooting fish in a barrel. Go to court sometime and watch how often a defendant representing him or herself is found not guilty. It’s pretty sad.
My law practice has been devoted to learning and using our great laws in defending people like you. The law is so good, getting a dismissal happens in just about every case I take to trial. I believe that if you are faced with a case and the radar/laser ticket says your speed was within the limit or less (not a school zone, business district, or local road) you should strongly consider retaining a competent, experienced traffic lawyer and go to trial.
There is wisdom in going to trial and saving your defensive driving option for the tough case that is hard to win. I’m afraid that it is all too common for judges to side with the police officer when a law defense isn’t used but the case turns on the courts weighing your testimony versus the police officers.
The judge will have a hard time ignoring a law defense that compels him to find you not guilty.
I know those laws and will bring up everyone that applies in your case. Let’s go to trial.
Send me an email or call me if you want further information or just to encourage me to keep fighting the good fight for justice under the law.
Our privilege to drive is so very important. Insurance companies will raise premiums when we get points against our license. I suggest you treat a moving violation very seriously. Some insurance companies will not insure you if you have two points within a 12-month or longer period.
Most of my clients are motorists who have a problem with DMV points or getting insurance.
If you have no DMV points against your license in the past 12 months be sure you make an informed and intelligent decision before you choose to attend traffic school.
Consider this. You have no DMV points, you were driving the speed limit or less and are charged with a laser/radar. Let’s say you hired me and I brought all my great defenses and the judge ignored all the law and found you guilty after one of my ones to two-hour-long trials. You are assessed one DMV point; you’ve paid me, and the court fine.
You took your best shot and still lost! However, you didn’t roll over and plead guilty, you and your lawyer fought the good fight and didn’t make it easy for them! I’m a true believer in the power of the laws that favor the defense and make it very tough for a police officer and judge to convict you in a case.
Why plead guilty! You will be assessed one DMV point and the fine. What happens when you pick up another moving violation? I win a lot of those cases because I can find all the laws and dig out all the facts and present your case very persuasively in court.
Let me offer a very possible future scenario for you to consider. You are driving on a freeway and the flow of traffic is traveling faster than the state maximum speed. You are thinking about your world with its concerns, considerations, and joys. A Highway Patrolman sees your car the cluster of cars that are in the flow of traffic. Being in the flow of traffic is no defense. Any car in the flow can be given a citation. The next time you are cruising along on a freeway, in the flow of traffic and EXCEEDING the speed limit, you are fair game for a ticket.