How Can a Conviction on Your Driving Record or a Criminal Record Of Arrest Affect You?

While many of us tend to be fairly laid-back regarding traffic violation offenses, the truth is these relatively minor infractions of the law can cause you significant levels of grief down the road. This is the way your traffic ticket generally evolves over time: You see the flashing lights in your rearview mirror and are filled with dismay to realize you are being pulled over by a city of Houston police officer. Perhaps you were exceeding the posted speed limit, slid through a stop sign, forgot to renew your inspection or registration sticker, or you committed any number of other relatively minor traffic infractions. You signed the ticket and returned home, fully intending to either pay the fine or appear before a City of Houston judge to plead your case. Then—as so often happens in our busy lives—you forgot to pay your fine or appear in court and next thing you know there is a city of Houston warrant for your arrest. Suddenly that relatively harmless traffic ticket has turned into a very serious issue.

Should You Pay Your Tickets and Fines?
Of course your first instinct is to simply rush down to the court and pay your fines or mail in a check and hope for the best. While either of these solutions will probably take care of the City of Houston arrest warrant with your name on it, they will also leave you with repercussions which could follow you for years and years to come. First of all, once you pay your Houston traffic ticket you have effectively pled guilty to the original offense, and you now have a conviction on your permanent driving record. The problem with those convictions on your driving record lies primarily in the points which go along with each conviction.

In the state of Texas, a moving violation such as running a stop light, neglecting to have a current sticker, speeding or any number of other traffic offenses will garner you two points on your Texas driving record. A moving violation which caused injuries to another will place three points on your driving record. Once these points add up to more than six, you could have some significant problems to deal with. First of all, you could end up having your driver’s license suspended due to the number of points on your driving record which can be a real problem when you depend on your vehicle to get you to work, school or any number of other places you regularly go.

The True Cost of Failing to Appear

If you believe that failing to appear on a traffic ticket may be a relatively harmless matter, you could be very unpleasantly surprised to find yourself under the cloud of a Houston arrest warrant. Of course it is much better for you if you actually know about the arrest warrant than if you are totally unaware of it. Although Houston police officers generally have much more serious issues to contend with than tracking down those who have neglected to pay a traffic ticket, they do have the option to find you wherever you may be (home, school, work) and arrest you immediately. Further, during Houston’s annual warrant roundup the police are actively looking for those who have neglected to pay their fines or show up in court as promised. To have police officers come into a person’s place of work and take them away in handcuffs would be a devastating experience for most all people.

When You’ve Been Charged with Failure to Appear
Suppose you received a ticket for a minor traffic infraction, put it into a drawer intending to pay the ticket or appear in court and contest it, then simply forgot about it. In our ever-increasingly busy lives, this is actually a fairly common scenario. Next thing you know there has been a Failure to Appear charge levied against you and a City of Houston arrest warrant issued. Although it is certainly reasonable that you would panic at this point and send in the money immediately, living in fear until the check cleared, you should be aware of the consequences of doing so. Remember that a Failure to Appear charge is a totally separate and new charge against you in addition to the original traffic charges.

Should you send in your money for the past due ticket, you must be aware that you have effectively pled “guilty” to the offense, and now have a conviction on your record—even though traffic issues seem minor, they are generally considered criminal cases. That conviction adds points to your driving record, increases your insurance rates, and can even be responsible for jeopardizing your current job or preventing you from obtaining a future job. Should you receive too many points on your driving record you could even face having your driver’s license suspended—a serious occurrence for most Americans.

New Motorcycle Laws Roll Into Texas September 1, 2009

New Motorcycle Laws Roll Into Texas September 1, 2009

HOUSTON—On June 19, 2009, Governor Rick Perry signed into law Senate Bill 1967 (SB1967) of the 81st Regular Legislative Session. This law became effective September 1, 2009, and includes many motorcycle-related changes that affect all riders.

First, the bill requires that applicants for an original class M license or class A, B or C driver license (including commercial driver licenses and permits) with authorization to operate a motorcycle, provide evidence of completion of an approved motorcycle operator training course. It also repeals the helmet exemption sticker program.

Texas Driver Responsibility Program under Fire

Texas Driver Responsibility Program under Fire

HOUSTON—It is common knowledge that drunken-driving laws in America vary from state-to-state, but in Texas, they often differ between counties. This “checkerboard” system of enforcement has recently come under fire, with local judges, lawmakers and upset residents calling for congruent reform and the elimination of hefty surcharges often imposed on top of criminal penalties.

Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston, has taken special issue with the state’s Driver Responsibility Program (DRP), which includes a surcharge of $1000 annually for three years for first-time driving-while-intoxicated (DWI) offenders. Too often, motorists simply opt not to pay the fines, which Whitmire and law officers said means more people driving without licenses or insurance.