9/1/05 Will bring New Traffic Laws to Texas

A number of notable Texas traffic and driving laws designed to grow safety on the roads and drivers education awareness go into effect on September 1.

Operators under the age of Drivers will at present have a harder time getting traffic tickets flushed from their record. SB 1005 provides that if a driver younger than automobile operators years of age commits a traffic offense classified as a moving violation, the judge must necessitate the driver to complete a classroom based or online defensive driving course. Beyond that, if the driver holds a provisional driver license - in other words, is under 18 years of age - they must submit to a Texas DPS road test in addition to taking an offline or online defensive driving course. Failure by the driver to meet this requirement will result in a final conviction for that traffic offense.

Proof of insurance will be enforced through the new State law SB 1670. This law takes the Department of Insurance, in conjunction with TDOT and other bureaux, to prove a check program for motor vehicle insurance in order to try and tighten the total of uninsured automobile operators.

SB 1257 forbids use of wireless communications hardware (including cellular phones) for the first six calendar months after teenagers acquire their driver licenses. The bill also disallows passenger bus drivers transporting those under 18 from employing wireless communications equipment, except in emergencies or when the bus is stopped. Use of wireless hardware has become ubiquitous and is under suspicion of causing accidents.

Many of the items addressed by by these laws are talked about in the available State defensive driving courses offered up online and in classroom settings. Prices could vary for drivers safety courses but the lower limit they can be by law in the state of Texas is $25.