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Getting a speeding ticket in Texas can cost you money and, on certain occasions, even your license.
If you are worried about a speeding citation, this article will show you how to pull up your record online, what you can do to fight the ticket in court, and the fine amounts that you can expect to pay in different Texan cities.
How do I know if I have a citation?
You can check if you have a citation in the Lone Star State through the website of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). The Texas Highway Patrol Citation Search feature allows you to locate any citations that were issued under your name during the last two years.
To use this feature, you need to have the following information at hand:
- The number of your driver’s license or ID
- Your birthday
- Your full name
Once you enter these details, you can view your citations history and the reason behind each ticket.
How do I get a speeding ticket dismissed in Texas?
You may be able to get a speeding ticket dismissed in Texas if you meet these conditions:
- Your driver’s license must be non-commercial.
- You have to have admitted guilt or plead no contest (nolo contendere) in court.
- You were driving less than 25 miles per hour (mph) over the speed limit. For example, if your ticket was issued while you were driving on a road that has a 60 mph speed limit, you might get the speeding charge dismissed if you were going 85 mph or slower.
- The citation or ticket you received was not in a construction zone.
- The court permitted you to take a certified defensive driving course as a condition for dropping your speeding charge.
Drivers who meet the above requirements could successfully have their ticket dismissed. At times, this could happen more than once.
How often can I get a ticket dismissed?
You can have a ticket dismissed every twelve months. In other words, if you already had a speeding charge that was dropped during the last year, you can’t do so again until twelve months go by from the last dismissal.
How to deal with a speeding ticket in Texas?
Texas’s laws punish most speeding tickets with a mere fine. Some drivers may also get penalized with points.
If your speed is 10% or more above the limit, you will receive 2 points. However, when your license accumulates 6 or more points, you pay a $100 fine and an additional $25 per point.
Do defensive driving courses help?
Yes, they certainly do. A court offers speeding violators the chance to take these courses once every 12 months to help the driver get their charges dismissed.
If the court gave you the opportunity to enroll in defensive driving courses, you must register for and complete the classes within 90 days or less. Luckily, there are several online schools that you can attend from the comfort of your home.
Online Traffic Schools
The following traffic schools offer online driving classes that most Texas courts will accept:
Pleading Not Guilty
If you believe that your ticket was wrongly issued, you may want to hire an attorney to represent you in court. This is especially true when the fines that you’re asked to pay are far more expensive than the cost of working with a lawyer.
How much is a speeding ticket in Texas?
In short, this depends on where you live. Different counties, cities, and townships have their own speeding ticket fine amounts. Moreover, what may count as an offense in one place may not be a punishable violation in another.
To clarify, here is a breakdown of the local speeding laws in some of the most prominent cities in Texas.
Houston
In Houston, the cost of a speeding ticket hinges on how fast the driver is going above the limit and whether they were speeding in a school or construction zone.
Firstly, here is how much a speeding ticket in Houston is based on the driver’s speed in relation to the speed limit:
- $194: For going 1-5 MPH more than the speeding limit
- $204: 6-9 MPH
- $229: 10-14 MPH
- $254: 15-19 MPH
- $279: 20-29 MPH
- $304: 30+ MPH
Secondly, here are the fine amounts in school zones and construction areas in which workers are present, determined by how much the driver’s MPH exceeded the limit:
- 1-5 MPH above the limit: $224 in school zones, $239 in construction zones with active workers
- 6-9 MPH: $244 in school zones and $264 in construction zones
- 10-14 MPH: $259 in school zones and $299 in construction zones
- 15-19 MPH: $279 in school zones and $384 in construction zones
- 20-29 MPH: $304 in school zones and $434 in construction zones
- 30+ MPH above the limit: $329 in school zones and $504 in construction zones
It is important to note that Houston’s traffic rules are unique in comparison to other Texan cities because the Space City categorizes fines based on where the violation occurred.
San Antonio
In San Antonio, meanwhile, speeding ticket costs are determined by the driver’s behavior and whether or not the road has signs that highlight the official limit. The fine amounts are as follows:
- On Roads with a Posted Speed Limit: $173 for going 10 miles or less above the limit plus an extra $5 for each mile that surpasses the limit by more than 10 MPH (for example, if the speeding limit was 50 MPH and you went 65 MPH, the fine is $198, which is $173 plus $5 for each mile over 60 MPH).
- On Roads Without a Posted Limit: $173 for going 10 miles or less above the limit plus $5 per mile that exceeds that.
- In School Zones: $213 for going 10 miles or less above the limit plus $5 per mile that outpaces the limit by more than 10 MPH.
- Unsafe Speeding: $233.
- Failure to Control Speed: $202.
- Excess Speed in City Parks: $170.90.
What makes San Antonio’s speeding laws distinct is that they charge speedy drivers per mile, in addition to the basic fine for going within 10 MPH faster than the limit.
The speeding ticket values in Houston and Dallas, on the other hand, are contingent upon the violator’s general speed and if they were by certain zones.
Dallas
The punishment for violating speeding laws in Dallas entails a base fine and a $104.10 fee that applies to most tickets. To illustrate, here are the amounts that you would have to pay for a speeding ticket, broken down by how far ahead of the limit you drove:
- 1 to 10 miles over the limit: $201.10 (a base fine of $97 plus the fee of $104.10)
- 11 to 15 miles: $226.10 (a $122 base fine plus the fee)
- 16 to 20 miles: $251.10 (a $147 base fine plus the fee)
- More than 20 miles over the limit: $304.10 (a $200 base fine plus the fee)
In the same vein, here are the speeding ticket amounts in school zones:
- 1 to 10 miles over the limit: $221.10 (a base fine of $117 plus the fee of $104.10)
- 11 to 15 miles: $246.10 (a $142 base fine plus the fee)
- 16 to 20 miles: $271.10 (a $167 base fine plus the fee)
- More than 20 miles over the limit: $304.10 (a $200 base fine plus the fee)
In short, Dallas’s speeding ticket cost structures are somewhat similar to Houston’s. On the flip side, San Antonio and Austin both charge drivers that surpass the limit by the mile.
Austin
Here are the speeding ticket amounts in the capital city of the Lone Star State:
- Speeding in General: $107.10 plus $10 per mile ahead of the limit
- Going Over 94 MPH: $307 ($107.10 in violation court costs and a $199.90 fine)
- Speeding in a School Zone: $107.10 plus $20 per mile ahead of the limit
- Going 10+ MPH Over the Limit: $307 ($107.10 in violation court costs and a $199.90 fine)
- Unsafe Speeding or Failing to Control Speed: $307 ($107.10 in violation court costs and a $199.90 fine)
Keep in mind that the violation court costs above include a $2 court processing fee. Although this number is small, it can certainly add up with time, especially when you get multiple tickets.
Do speeding tickets go on your record in Texas?
Yes, speeding tickets will remain on your record for 3 years. Because of this, the actual expense of a ticket should account for the increases in auto insurance premiums that violators will have to pay.
If you used the online Texas Highway Patrol Citation Search tool and found out that you had a ticket, you may want to work with an experienced traffic attorney on getting the violation dismissed. Otherwise, you will end up paying hefty fines (depending on which Texas city or county you live in) and inflated insurance premiums. Use AppWinIt to help you fight your ticket.
If you already have points on your license, a suspended one could lead to a loss of income and great inconveniences that could increase how much you spend on transportation.
Therefore, a traffic attorney will work with you on getting your citation dismissed, convincing the court to have you enroll in driving courses instead of paying fines, and/or defend you if you believe that you weren’t guilty.
A lawyer may cost money, but, most of the time, that amount is a fraction of what you would have to pay on the direct and indirect expenses after getting a speeding ticket.
