Defensive Driving: My First Ticket
Posted on October 3, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Automobile
I got my very first speeding ticket this week.
I simply didn’t realize I was in an active school zone. It was the furthest thing from my mind at that time. I saw the sign as I drove in but 30 minutes and a vet appointment later I forgot about it. With no schools/children in sight it never occurred to me. I just wasn’t paying attention which isn’t like me.
I had just left my 14 year old kitty at the vet for major surgery and got pulled over less than a minute down the road. I literally had just turned out of the vet’s parking lot. I honestly had no idea I was in a school zone. I’ll probably be mumbling that all week.
The officer had already written the ticket and wasn’t going to consider a warning despite my clean history. So now I get the pleasure of paying a hefty fine and taking defensive driving to keep it off my record.
We were lucky that we got a bonus recently so we will use part of that money to cover this fine. What a terrible and stupid loss of potential savings on my part. The good news is that I have no prior tickets and I’ve never taken defensive driving before. So that leads to my next dilemma: What is the cheapest and least painful way to complete defensive driving?
The Choices for Defensive Driving in Texas
Classroom
In my area, defensive driving classes take about 6 or 6 1/2 hours (minimum of 360 minutes required) and are commonly held at comedy clubs or restaurants. They take place on a Saturday morning or the time is divided over two weeknights. The cost is around $30-$40 (some include a meal or drinks).
You are required to take quizzes to prove you are paying attention but it sounds like it is hard to fail these quizzes. I hear some classes can be pretty funny while others are dry and all about forced participation. This is probably the best option for people who just want to get it over with or who don’t have the ability to take (or lack interest in taking) a video or online course.
VHS/DVD
You can also take a defensive driving course by VHS/DVD or in some areas you can even order it through your cable service “on demand”. Same rules apply with the minimum of 6 hours required. You can watch on your own schedule and must complete the course in 90 days.
With some services, the DVDs get to sent to your home and there is no need to send them back. However, if you rent them from a video store you will likely have a rental due date (often 5 days) and you will incur late fees after that. The cost of this type of program varies from $25-$40 (plus shipping in some cases). You take your exams online or by using a touchtone phone.
Some examples of these VHS/DVD programs are: BustedDriver, TakeHome, and Wheels in Motion.
Online
Online courses are self-paced computer programs that take 6 hours to complete. You can do the course in one sitting or as your schedule permits within a 90-day period. I found the typical cost was between $25-$40 for online courses geared for Texas. The formats differ in that some are mostly reading and some are mostly video/animation so you are bound to find one you can handle.
They have online quizzes that you must complete to prove you have been reading/watching along the way. Some can be timed even – when Eric took an online course it wouldn’t let him move ahead to the next screen until a certain time had passed. That might be a little frustrating if you are a quick reader. I guess they do that to help ensure that it takes the full 360 minute minimum to complete.
Here are some online defensive driving options that interested me:
Comedy Defensive Driving - says it requires “no reading”, is fully animated, and the website has a sample video. It appears to be for Texas only and it costs $29.95 with their special offer right now. It looks promising but I wonder if the animation and impersonations are entertaining or if it would get annoying after a while. It’s probably still better than straight-up reading though.
I Drive Safely - This course uses text, video, and animation. After watching the demo I get the feeling that this is what I’d expect from a non-comedy style course. It seems straight forward and easy to use. The course costs $39.95 and says it has 24/7 support. Eric took this one and said it was “alright”. It had been recommended to him and he had no complaints.
Get Defensive - this site claims to have the “lowest price allowed under Texas Law” at $25. The animation on the website is kinda cheezy but it gets the job done I guess. It appears they have affiliate programs for every state (prices vary by state).
Traffic School Online - This site seems pretty professional based on the demo. For Texas it runs $30. They also offer programs for many states. I think this one looks good and the price is reasonable.
What will I choose? Online defensive driving appeals to me most because I can complete the course at my own pace and I’m already on the computer much of the day anyway. I’d rather spend time on my computer instead of sitting in front of the TV. The classroom style courses are probably just fine but spending 6 hours on a Saturday in a room full of strangers who don’t want to be there just doesn’t sound very fun to me.
I haven’t decided what online course to take at this point. None of the programs listed above seem bad but I’m leaning towards the Traffic School Online or Comedy Defensive Driving programs. I think I’m going to rule out Get Defensive even though it is cheaper because the animation was a little much for me. If I’m gonna have to watch a program for 6 hours I think it is worth it to pay $5 more to make it more tolerable. I Drive Safely looks very professional but at $40 I don’t know if it is worth it when there are decent alternatives at $30. The ticket already is expensive enough!
Note: Every state has their own guidelines regarding defensive driving – be sure to look up what is required by your state when researching defensive driving options.
Image Source: MikeSchinkel
Comments
9 Responses to “Defensive Driving: My First Ticket”
Leave a Reply
Subscribe!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
About Us
A Penny Closer is for those of us who want to improve how we spend, save, and invest. We want to be able to manage our money so that we can use it to enjoy our lives today while still saving to reach our dreams tomorrow. Read more about us here...
Top Commentators
Suggested Reading
I feel your pain. I’m in Texas, too, and I was pulled over two years ago for apparently not making a full and complete stop at a stop sign. I took an online defensive driving course. It was easy and didn’t involve having to leave the house and pretend to be interested in what a teacher was saying. ;-) Yes, there are timed pages, which are a pain. I also learned that if you get distracted and leave a page up too long, it will time out and make you start the timer over again for that page. But it’s easy and fairly painless. You can play solitaire while waiting for the page time to be up.
I paid $25 for an online defensive driving. I think the name was I Drive Safely but you listed a higher price so that might not be it. The thing with that one is you can copy and paste the text into a word document and save it on your hard drive for each lesson. Then when it is time to answer the questions you can read your document and get the answers. The online thing is not hard and you only need a 75% to pass. It will be okay. I got a speeding ticket for being in a school zone too so I understand how you feel. I have never gotten one before that and I don’t plan to get one in the future.
BTW you should not have to pay the fine if you tell them you are doing the def. course.
I would call an attorney and see if they can get it reduced or get you out of it all together. Here in NC, all they really care about is the fine. You can usually pay an attorney to take care of the ticket, and you just have to pay for the fine. It will keep it off your insurance, and keep you from having to take the course. Now, this is in NC, so not sure about TX.
Sorry to hear that though…few things worse than seeing blue lights in the rear view mirror.
Ewokgirl – Yeah, I really want to avoid a classroom setting for this. Good idea about the solitaire – I’ll have to keep that in mind!
lulu – Thanks for the info! There are different prices for the courses depending on what state you live in. I didn’t even think about the fact that I won’t be paying the fine by taking defensive driving, only the court costs. Whew! The court costs are high but still cheaper than the fine. Thanks!
glblguy – I’ll have to look into that. I’m my case the fine is actually higher than the court costs ($216 vs. $128). I hadn’t even thought about a lawyer though. Yeah, that experience thoroughly sucked. Especially since I really had no idea I had done anything wrong.
If your record is clean, this ticket won’t go on your record as long as you take defensive driving. You just have to be very, very good for the next 3 years to keep it that way. ;-)
And the good thing is that you should get a discount on your insurance once you send in the paperwork to your insurance company proving that you took DD. So, it’s not all bad. It helps to look for the silver lining.
I think those who want to go for defensive driving can go for online classes. That can really help you not only for safe driving but also to get discount on your insurance premium.
-Martin
I took a Imporv’ oline course (www.MyImprov.com) in florida. I felt that they were the best option. while still a drag, course material was a combination of funny video clips and text but mostly in a form of sort text and comic strips… overall very simple
Cool post, i have subscribed to your blog.Please keep it up, Samantha
[...] A Penny Closer: How defensive driving can help when you get tickets which place you into a high risk category. [...]