Read on to understand if you’ll need to provide an affidavit and which one you’ll need if you do.
Before we get into the answer to that question, let’s take a closer look at the two different types of defensive driving affidavits that exist in Texas.
The first kind of affidavit is one that the court may require. Some cities (like Houston, for example) will ask you to submit a signed—sometimes notarized—statement attesting that you have not taken a driver safety course to dismiss a citation in the last 12 months.
Basically, it’s your promise that, although you’re not beneath breaking the law to get a ticket, you are certainly above the idea of breaking the law about getting rid of one.
The fact that a court requires such a document is curious. These same courts will likely ask you to submit a copy of your driving record, which will reflect whether or not you have taken defensive driving in the last 12 months.
Maybe they ask you to jump through extra hoops because, hey, sometimes it just feels good to swing your gavel around.
The second type of affidavit is required by defensive driving course providers. Would you be asked to submit one of these? That depends.
One of the demands placed on online course providers is to make every effort to confirm that the person completing the online course is, in fact, the person who received the ticket.
The state requires online defensive driving courses to employ “personal identification questions” to confirm students’ identities, which must be verified in the state database. If, for some reason, the student can not provide the correct answers to these questions, they will be required to submit the second type of affidavit, which requires the entry of some information, a copy of their driver’s license, and a notary seal.
This document will affirm to the driving school (and the state!) that the person taking the course is certifiably the right person.
These questions are derived from information about the student’s license and auto registration entered before beginning the course.
The personal identification questions may look like:
These questions are then fact-checked against a state-maintained database, which stores all of this information. If a student answers enough of these randomly scattered questions incorrectly while working on the course, they must contact the course provider.
Unless they have a really good reason for not knowing where they live or what they drive, they will be locked out of their course and will not be allowed to finish.
There are explanations as to why these kinds of personal questions cannot be fact-checked. For example, if the student holds an out-of-state license or recently bought a car, the database may not be updated with that new information.
So, depending on your particular set of circumstances, your answer to the affidavit question may be one or the other, both, or none at all.
Before figuring out if you need an affidavit, you need to determine if you can even take defensive driving in the first place.
Generally speaking, a driver may ask the court for permission to dismiss their ticket with defensive driving in the following circumstances:
If these conditions are met, the driver can petition the court to take defensive driving.
To secure permission to take a defensive driving course, you need to follow these steps:
After that process, it’s time to find a course, get it finished, and get it back to the court.
When asking the court permission to take defensive driving, you should have the following items in hand:
There is a reason that the court permits drivers to take defensive driving. And, unlike so many other things in life, it ain’t about the money.
The court does collect a fee when it allows a driver to take defensive driving, but it is usually far less than the face value of the ticket. So, allowing drivers to take defensive driving actually costs the municipality money. So why do they do it?
When the state established the practice of offering driver safety courses for ticket dismissal, it really was to promote driver safety. In their estimation, a driver who completed defensive driving was far less likely to repeat the driving mistake that resulted in a ticket.
They considered that the short-term gain of growing city coffers with full-priced tickets was short-sighted compared to the reduction of accidents and the overall improvement of the driving environment in the future.
Or “down the road,” if you will.
Your total out-of-pocket will depend on where you got your ticket. To begin with, different courts charge different court fees to take defensive driving.
As for the course itself, state law sets the minimum cost for defensive driving is $25.00 dollars. You can pay more, but you legally can’t pay any less.
You will also likely be required to submit a copy of your driving record, so there’s another blow to your bank account. If you procrastinate in taking your course, you can also add in the cost of expedited shipping to ensure getting your certificate back to the court on time.
On the other hand, you might want to consider the cost of NOT taking defensive driving.
In this scenario, you will start at the courthouse, where you will be required to pay the face value of your ticket. This fine is usually far greater than the court’s fee associated with taking defensive driving.
Your next expense may initially seem intangible, but it can be significant. If you pay the ticket instead of taking defensive driving, points will be added to your driving record.
These added points will increase your insurance premiums for the next three years. Depending on your carrier and the severity of your ticket, your rates can increase by 3% to 79%, so there’s that.
Back to the cost of choosing to take defensive driving, there is money you can subtract from your initial cash outlay, making it an even more attractive alternative.
Many insurance companies offer defensive driving discounts. You are eligible to receive these discounts even if you have received a ticket. The defensive driving provider will make this process easy.
After completing your defensive driving course, you will be issued not one but two completion certificates. One certificate will be marked “Court Copy” and the other “Insurance Copy.”
Get the right one to the right place, and you’ll be on your way to putting money back in your pocket. How much? Many drivers report that their savings cover the costs of taking defensive driving and, in some cases, come out ahead.
Imagine. Making money by getting a ticket. Maybe you should buy that cop a cup of coffee or, at the very least, send a thank-you card…
