Young Motor Vehicle Operators in The Lone Star State Face a Rougher Time Dismissing Traffic Fines

By Joe GerstlA new law going into effect Sept. 1st 2005 will likely increase the require for defensive driving online(http://www.officialdefensivedriving.com) classes as well as onsite courses and defensive driving video rentings and will grow the number of road tests doled out by the Lone Star State Dept. of Public Safety. Starting 9/1/2005, a drivers safety course will be involved for every operators under age twenty-five that obtain a ticket for a moving violation such as speeding if they want to keep it off their record. This isn't new in that many metropolises and parishes already have this requirement. However, many judges in these counties dismiss the class requirement typically in exchange for probationary period of time in which, if the driver stays clean of any another Fines, the original ticket is disregarded. Typically this understanding typically also carries a fee to the municipality in addition to the probationary period of time. Authored by Dallas Republican John Carona and delivered as Senate Bill 1005, this new law is even more rigorous for those under eighteen. Automobile operators through the age of Seventeen will be needed to take a road end line text with the Texas Department of Public Safety in addition to the fine and probation if they want to keep their records clean. Those with a great deal of personal experience with encountering citations will not be delighted with this law as it ends a loophole. Before this law judges were allowed to exempt drivers under the age of twenty-five who received a traffic ticket from a Defensive Driving Online Course(http://www.officialdefensivedriving.com). Some lawmakers were concerned about teens, particularly those who were instructed to drive by their parents versus tX licensed instructors. To handle this concern, they amended the road line 2 text requirement for those under 18. Prior to 1-Sep-05, there were two divisions that touch on to deferred adjudication of infringements. This only means that if a driver pleaded "no contest" to the traffic segments & then did not break any extra traffic laws for a period of time set by the court, the ticket would be wiped off from the driver's record. One division of the law specifically addresses traffic covers indicating that a traffic violator must take an online defensive driving course(http://www.officialdefensivedriving.com) or attend an alternative defensive driving school or class in order to have a violation removed from their record. Misdemeanors are covered in the other section of law allowing judges to define the standard to be reached for "deferred adjudication". Deferred adjudication means: the driver is placed on probation for a length of time & if driver stays violation free during this period, the original traffic fine is erased from their record. Deferred adjudication, in addition to the probationary period, usually incurs a fine to the district in which the ticket occurred. In many jurisdictions, this second section of the lay has allowed violation to simply fine motor vehicle operators as long as they didn't get an additional citation for some time period of time like 6 months. For operators under the age of 25, Texas law SB 1005 eliminates that flexibility and in fact requires those who receive traffic citations & are under 25 to a take defensive driving online(http://www.officialdefensivedriving.com) or in classroom setting. The Texas Department of Public Safety indicated that an estimated 21,000 teens will take the road test each year. All state driver's license offices are gearing up to have officers available to conduct more of these screenings. DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange stated that these offices already conduct road screenings now however as this road test has not been required to obtain a driver's license for more than decade, most teens don't take it so more officers will need to be available at every Dept. of Public Safety faciltiy. Those that do are usually at the request of their parents. Fortunately for the usually cash strapped young operators, the road line 1 text will only tack on another $10 to their already costly traffic citation experience. This new law will likely grow the demand for defensive driving online(http://www.officialdefensivedriving.com) courses as well as onsite courses and defensive driving(http://www.officialdefensivedriving.com) video rentals. About the author:Cindy Cashman operates Official Defensive Driving and provides online defensive driving courses. Save the time, money and hassle of attending defensive driving classes. Go to http://www.OfficialDefensiveDriving.comto sign up for an online defensive driving course.