How Traffic Tickets Can Damage Your Driving Record In Texas

Driving can be the joyride of a lifetime or a gateway to jail. Imagine yourself driving with the windows down, and the wind is flowing through your hair. You’re going 80 in a 40-speed lane, and then you hear a police car siren behind you. Uh oh.

Texas Driving Point System

Traffic tickets can be costly and possibly land you in jail. Just like other states, Texas uses a point system. These points are added to your driver licenses. From the date of the conviction, they will stay on your record for three years. This point system is how traffic tickets can damage your driving record In Texas.

Kept by Texas Department of Public Safety DPS, your driving record includes anything of you that could affect your driving, going back at least three years. Nonetheless, many records include any traffic violations or convictions and any penalties you have received, such as points and fines, as well as any prior suspensions and revocations or collisions that you have had. 

If you are a reckless driver with lots of penalties, you will get higher rates on your auto insurance. Texas DPS could take drastic action if you postpone paying too many parking tickets resulting in towing your vehicle or putting a boot on it or suspending your vehicle registration.

You have three choices when you get a Texas traffic ticket: plead guilty, plead no contest or plead not guilty. It’s good to weigh your options before you file your plea and understand the consequences of each choice.

You will be required to pay your ticket and fees whether you plead guilty or no contest. By taking a Texas defensive driving class in Texas, you might have an opportunity to negotiate lower fines or penalties and/or points off your driving record. But it all depends on your violation, and it’s up to the court to determine.

The points system is pretty straightforward in Texas. Moving violations are two points, and three points are the moving violations that end in an injury. According to the Texas driver responsibility law, once drivers earn six or more points in a three-year timespan, drivers will have to start paying surcharges. 

With the number of points accumulated, the amount of drivers has to pay increases. If a driver has four moving violations within twelve months or seven, moving violations within a twenty-four-month period will have their license suspended immediately. There is, however, a particular surcharge case called “conviction-based surcharges.”

Even after completing a defensive driving course approved by TEA / TDLR in Texas and submitting your Certificate of Completion along with a copy of your driving record to your court, you will still need to follow up. Additionally, extra marks on your record can result in additional penalties, higher auto insurance premiums, and, potentially, or suspension of the driver’s license.

To request your own Driver Record online click here.

Call Kelly McMahan Law at (512) 843-2889 to discuss how to handle your Austin speeding ticket or reckless driving violation. Now since you know how tickets damage your driving record in Texas visit us at our location here.