posted by admin on Mar 28
A new law going into effect 9/1/2005 will likely increase the call for for defensive driving online classes as well as onsite classes and defensive driving video rentings & will grow the number of road screenings dispensed by the State of Texas DPS.
Commencing Sept. 1 2005, a drivers safety course will be expected for every automobile operators under age 25 that receive a ticket for a moving violation such as speeding if they want to keep it off their record. This isn’t new in that many cities and county already have this requirement. However, many judges in these counties dismiss the class requirement typically in exchange for provisional period in which, if the driver stays clean of any additional Tickets, the original ticket is ignored. More often than not this agreement typically also requires a fee to the municipality in addition to the probationary period.
Authored by Dallas Republican John Carona and introduced as Senate Bill 1005, this new law is even severer for those under eighteen. Automobile operators through the age of Seventeen will be demanded to take a road line 2 text with the Texas DPS in addition to the fine & probation if they want to keep their records clean.
Those with a lot of personal experience with undergoing violations will not be happy with this law as it shuts a loophole. Ahead of this law judges were allowed to excuse operators under the age of 25 who received a traffic ticket from a Online Defensive Driving. Some lawmakers were worried about teens, especially those who were taught to drive by their parents versus state endorsed instructors. To handle this concern, they amended the road line 1 text requirement for those under eighteen.
Prior to Sept. 1 2005, there were two segments that pertain to deferred adjudication of misdemeanours. This merely means that if a driver pleaded “no contest” to the traffic sections and then did not break any more traffic laws for a period of time set by the court, the ticket would be erased from the driver’s criminal record. One section of the law specifically treats traffic addresses indicating that a traffic lawbreaker must take an online defensive driving course or attend an guide defensive driving school or class in order to have a fine removed from their record. Misdemeanors are covered in the other section of law allowing judges to define the standard to be reached for “deferred adjudication”. Deferred adjudication means: the driver is placed on probation for a length of time & if driver stays ticket free during this period, the original traffic ticket is erased from their record. Deferred adjudication, in addition to the probationary period, usually incurs a fine to the district in which the fine occurred. In many jurisdictions, this second section of the lay has allowed fine to simply fine drivers as long as they didn’t get additional citation for some period of time of time like 6 months.
For automobile operators under the age of twenty-five, Texas law SB 1005 eliminates that flexibility & in fact requires those who receive traffic citations & are under 25 to a take defensive driving online or in classroom setting.
The Texas DPS indicated that an figured 21,000 teens will take the road test each year. All state driver’s license offices are gearing up to have officers available to conduct more of these tests. DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said that these offices already conduct road screenings now however as this road test has not been required to obtain a driver’s license for more than decade, most teens don’t take it so more officers will need to be available at each DPS faciltiy. Those that do are usually at the request of their parents. Fortunately for the usually cash strapped young motor vehicle operators, the road trial will only tack on another $10 to their already costly traffic citation experience.
This new law will likely grow the demand for defensive driving online classes in addition to onsite classes and defensive driving video rentals.
By Joe Gerstl
posted by admin on Mar 28
A new law going into effect 9/1/05 will likely increase the require for defensive driving online classes in addition to onsite courses and defensive driving video rentings and will grow the total of road tests dealt out by the TX Dept. of Public Safety.
Initiating 1-Sep-05, a drivers safety course will be involved for 100% operators under age twenty-five that pick up a ticket for a moving ticket such as speeding if they want to keep it off their record. This isn’t new in that many cities and parishes already have this requirement. However, many judges in these counties dismiss the class requirement typically in substitution for provisionary cycle in which, if the driver stays clean of any more Citations, the original ticket is dismissed. In general this understanding ordinarily also packs a fee to the municipality in addition to the probationary cycle.
Authored by Dallas Republican John Carona and posed as Senate Bill 1005, this new law is even more hard-and-fast for those under 18. Motor vehicle operators through the age of Seventeen will be needed to take a road end line text with the Texas Department of Public Safety in addition to the fine and probation if they want to keep their records clean.
Those with very much of personal experience with incurring violations will not be delighted with this law as it shuts a loophole. Prior to this law judges were allowed to exempt drivers under the age of 25 who received a traffic fine from a Drivers Safety Class. Some lawmakers were concerned about teens, especially those who were instructed to drive by their parents versus state endorsed teachers. To site address this concern, they amended the road end line text requirement for those under 18.
Ahead of September 1st, there were two parts that bear on to deferred adjudication of misdemeanors. This just means that if a driver pleaded “no contest” to the traffic sections & then did not violate any further traffic laws for a time set by the court, the fine would be effaced from the driver’s criminal record. One division of the law specifically covers traffic citations indicating that a traffic violator must take an online defensive driving course or attend an alternative defensive driving school or course of instruction in order to have a ticket removed from their record. Misdemeanors are covered in the other section of law allowing judges to define the standard to be reached for “deferred adjudication”. Deferred adjudication means: the driver is placed on probation for a length of time & if driver stays ticket free during this period, the original traffic violation is erased from their record. Deferred adjudication, in addition to the probationary period, usually incurs a fine to the district in which the violation occurred. In many jurisdictions, this second section of the lay has allowed violation to simply fine motor vehicle operators as long as they didn’t get a second citation for some time of time like 6 months.
For automobile operators under the age of twenty-five, Texas law SB 1005 eliminates that flexibility & in fact requires those who receive traffic citations and are under 25 to a take defensive driving online or in classroom setting.
The Texas DPS indicated that an estimated 21,000 teens will take the road trial each year. All state driver’s license offices are gearing up to have officers available to conduct more of these tests. DPS spokeswoman Tela Mange said that these offices already conduct road tests now however as this road test has not been required to obtain a driver’s license for more than decade, most teens don’t take it so more officers will need to be available at both DPS faciltiy. Those that do are usually at the request of their parents. Fortunately for the usually cash strapped young operators, the road line 2 text will only tack on another $10 to their already costly traffic citation experience.
By Joe Gerstl
posted by admin on Mar 27
If you suffer an injury resulting in significant damages you will need to hire a personal injury lawyer. But in any given city, there are probably over 20 pages of personal injury attorney listings in the phone book. How do you pick the right one? What do you look for? What questions should you ask?
Here are 7 things you should know before hiring your injury lawyer…
1) The sooner you hire your lawyer the better. Begin looking for your personal injury lawyer within a week or two after your accident. If you’re not physically capable you should have a friend or loved-one start looking. The sooner you start building your case the better.
2) Hire a personal injury lawyer that specializes in your specific type of injuries. Do your homework before signing the retainer agreement. Visit the firm’s website and read up on it’s history and each lawyer’s biographical information. Ask the lawyer for some referrences and ask how much experience they have in handling cases with similar injuries. What settlement awards did they get in those cases?
3) Have a face-to-face meeting with your prospective lawyer. Your personal injury lawyer is going to be your closest advisor during this difficult time. You must feel comfortable and trust your lawyer. The only way you’ll get a feel for the lawyer is by having a sit-down to discuss your case. Any good personal injury lawyer will give you an initial consultation free of charge.
4) Hire a lawyer that will take your case on a contingency fee basis. This means that your lawyer won’t get paid unless you get paid. He will take his fee out of the money you receive for your injuries. You can expect your lawyer to take about 33% of your final settlement - that’s after expenses are taken off the top. Make sure you clearly understand the payment structure before you sign the retainer agreement.
5) Beware of ambulance chasers. The goal of these lawyers is to get lots of minor personal injury cases and settle them quickly - they make their profit from high turnover. So naturally they won’t put as much time and effort into each case as they should. (If you’re looking for a quick settlement be prepared to accept less than what your case is really worth.)
6) Hire a lawyer with a good Martindale-Hubbell rating. This service evaluates lawyers in the U.S. and Canada based on peer review. Their website, Martindale.com has a helpful lawyer locator service and will explain the rating system.
7) Always be completely open and honest when discussing your case with a lawyer. Tell the lawyer as much as you can about what happened. Try to remember every detail. Any documentation and pictures you have of your injuries and treatment will be a big help when evaluating your case.
Bonus Tip:
NEVER give a recorded statement to a representative from any insurance company until you’ve consulted a lawyer. When the rep. asks for one simply say, “I’m not prepared to give a statement at this time.” A recorded statement can be used as evidence and if you’re not prepared you might overlook important details. Anything you miss (or misrepresent) can be used against you in settlement negotiations and in the trial.
By Arthur Gueli
posted by admin on Mar 27
If you are ever arrested for drunk driving (also called DUI for “driving under the influence” or DWI for “driving while intoxicated”), your experience will begin with an officer stopping you because of some questionable driving pattern, or possibly because you encountered a DUI “sobriety checkpoint” or you were involved in an accident. The officer will approach your car and ask some questions. You will then be asked to perform “field sobriety tests”. He may also ask you to breath into a handheld device, technically called a PBT or “preliminary breath test”. You will then be arrested. On the way to the police station, you will be asked to submit to a breath or blood test — and told that if you don’t, your driver’s license will be suspended.
What should you do and say during all of this to minimize the risk of a criminal conviction and a license suspension?
1. Politely decline to answer any questions without an attorney present. It is a cardinal rule in legal circles that only incriminating statements are included in police reports and later testified to in court; statements pointing to innocence are invariably ignored, forgotten or misinterpreted. Bluntly put, whatever you say will almost never help you and can only hurt you.
2. Decline to take any so-called field sobriety tests. These are theoretically intended to determine impairment, but in fact are designed for failure. In most cases, the officer has already made the decision to arrest and is simply going through the motions and gathering further evidence to bolster his case (he is the one who decides whether you “pass” or “fail”). In almost all states, you are not required to submit to this “testing”. It’s unlikely that taking it will change the officer’s decision to arrest.
3. Decline to take a “PBT” (preliminary breath test). These handheld units are carried by officers in the field to help decide whether to arrest or not and are notoriously inaccurate. In most states, drivers are not required to submit to these tests (in some they are required if you are under 21). Although most states admit the results of these tests into evidence only to show the presence of alcohol, some permit them to prove the actual blood-alcohol level.
4. Do you choose blood, breath — or refuse to take any chemical test? This is a case-by-case decision, and involves a number of considerations. First, although blood tests are subject to many possible errors, they are generally more accurate than so-called “breathalyzers”; if you feel your blood-alcohol level is below .08%, then you might want to choose the blood test. Secondly, whether to submit to testing at all requires some knowledge of your state’s laws — specifically, the consequences of refusing. If the increased criminal penalty and license suspension do not outweigh the possible benefit of depriving the prosecution of blood-alcohol evidence, then you may wish to refuse. Bear in mind that the prosecution will charge you with two offenses, DUI and driving with over .08% blood-alcohol; without a blood or breath test, he cannot prove the .08% charge, and there will be no chemical evidence to corroborate the officer’s testimony. You should also realize that in many states chemical evidence of a very high blood-alcohol level, say over .15%, can trigger more severe penalties.
5. In almost all states, your driver’s license will be immediately suspended if either (1) the chemical tests results are .08% or higher, or (2) you refuse to submit to testing. You have a right to a hearing to contest this administrative suspension, and there are many possible defenses, many of them technical in nature. This hearing is usually separate from the criminal proceedings, and involve different procedures and issues than in court; it is not uncommon to lose the criminal case but win the suspension hearing. However, as most motor vehicle departments do not really want the time and expense of providing these hearings, they tend to provide notice of the right buried in fine print given to arrestees. The critical information is the requirement that an actual demand for the hearing must be made by the arrestee — usually within ten calendar days. If you do not contact the DMV within ten days, you lose all rights to a hearing — no matter how good a defense you may have. Tip 5: Get an attorney right away, or make the call yourself — and make sure you can later prove you made the call within the ten day window!
By Lawrence Taylor
A new law going into effect 9/1/2005 will likely increase the call for for defensive driving online classes as well as onsite classes and defensive driving video rentings & will grow the number of road screenings dispensed by the State of Texas DPS.
