Signing up for a Texas online defensive driving course is relatively easy. However, there are many courses available.
Chances are pretty high that you are not taking your Texas defensive driving course by choice, but rather, out of necessity due to a traffic ticket or to lower your insurance rates.
This quick guide will help you sign up for a fast Texas defensive driving course at the lowest price.
The 4 Cheapest & Fastest Texas Online Defensive Driving Courses In Texas For 2023
For those of you who wish to do your own research, I’ve provided plenty of information below to help you find the fastest Texas online defensive driving course. But if you just want some quick recommendations, I’ve got you covered.
The courses listed below are all state-approved for every county and court jurisdiction in the state. They’ve all been in business for over a decade (in most cases more than two decades), have excellent ratings and reviews online, and are generally considered to be the best and fastest online defensive driving courses in Texas for the lowest possible price.
These are the cheapest & fastest online defensive driving that the state of Texas allows by law as of 2023…
The 4 Best Online Defensive Driving Courses In Texas
Reviews Of The 4 Fastest Online Defensive Driving Courses In Texas
The online defensive driving courses listed above are the fastest you’ll find in the state of Texas. They meet the state-mandated minimum requirements and not a second more.
Any of these courses will work for ticket dismissal purposes no matter where you live in Texas, so you can’t go wrong with any of them, but they do each have their own unique advantages. So, let’s do a quick comparison for each of these defensive driving schools.
1. Go To Traffic School – Fastest & Cheapest Allowed By Texas Law
Go To Traffic School is a no-brainer. There’s really not a reason to NOT sign up for them. This is not only a fast defensive driving course in Texas, it is guaranteed to be the cheapest.
The state of Texas has certain requirements for online defensive driving courses. For instance, a 6hr course actually needs to take 6 hours by the use of course timers. Go To Traffic School is the shortest allowed by Texas state law.
Is it going to be fun and exciting? Absolutely not. It’s going to be slow and boring. But this is literally the fastest online defensive driving course you’re allowed to take in Texas.
The state of Texas also regulates prices for online defensive driving courses. The minimum price allowed by law for an online defensive driving course in Texas is $25. So, guess what Go To Traffic School charges? That’s right, $25, the state minimum.
They’ve had MILLIONS of people use their courses across almost every state in the country. Plus, this course is constantly updated so it works well on mobile-devices and all that other good stuff.
Get The Best Price On Go To Traffic School Here
2. Aceable – Most Modern & Best For Mobile Devices
Aceable is another fast online defensive driving course to take in Texas. This course can be completed in the state mandated 6hr minimum and is also the lowest legal price which is $25.
What makes Aceable different is how modern the course is. This is the best course to go with if you plan on taking your defensive driving course from a smartphone or tablet since they have recently built dedicated apps for all their courses.
Aceable is also a good choice if you want some videos and interactive features instead of reading page after page of plain text. They have a robot mascot named Ace that you’ll actually kinda miss once the course is over!
The vast majority of online defensive driving courses in Texas suck because they are so incredibly outdated. I’m not just talking about their 1992 videos and pictures seemingly from 1980’s textbooks. There are much bigger problems.
For example, Texas requires an “identity verification system” to be used in order to verify that YOU are really the one taking the course. The old outdated courses can cause verification issues, in which case you’ll need to contact their customer service to get let back into the course (have fun with that).
Issues like this aren’t a problem at Aceable since it was just built from the ground up a couple of years ago. This is definitely one of the best online defensive driving courses in Texas for 2023.
Get The Best Price On Aceable Here
3. Improv Traffic School – Most Entertaining
I absolutely love Improv Traffic School. Ok, well “love” might be a strong word when describing a defensive driving course, but the methodology behind this course is rather ingenious.
Improv Traffic School is run by the nationwide chain of Improv Comedy Clubs. They actually started out in the 1990’s before online defensive driving was ever even a thing.
For us old farts, we remember when you had to take a defensive driving class in a physical classroom. It sucked. You basically had to waste a saturday getting lectured at by a driving instructor for 6 hours.
Well, Improv Traffic School decided to make that experience entertaining. How? Get this… They began training their stand-up comedians to become certified defensive driving instructors. That sounds like a joke, but it isn’t!
Once online defensive driving became a thing in Texas, Improv Traffic School took that same approach and created online classes.
This Texas state-approved online defensive driving class is the fastest & cheapest allowed by law, plus you’ll be entertained along the way with funny stand-up routines, games, animations, memes, and all sorts of stuff to keep you from falling asleep.
Get The Best Price On Improv Traffic School Here
4. iDriveSafely – No Frills But Easy To Pass
iDriveSafely is one of the original online defensive driving courses approved by the DPS for ticket dismissal purposes. They’ve had millions of drivers use their course across many states for two decades, so they kinda have this down to a science.
There’s honestly nothing particularly interesting about this defensive driving course. They don’t have Hollywood comedians, they don’t have fancy videos, and it’s not revolutionary by any means.
But, some of you aren’t looking for Hollywood comedians, animated mascots, and videos to sit through. You just want a basic course that is fast, cheap, and easy to pass. I present to you, iDriveSafely.
Want to know what iDriveSafely is good for? Binge watching a new TV series. Yeah, seriously.
You see, taking defensive driving in Texas mostly sucks because each page is on a timer. That means there’s a lot of downtime. You’ve read a page, but there is still a bunch of time left on a timer that you need to wait for.
And really, nobody reads every word of their defensive driving course. You’ll find that the quizzes are super easy to pass after each section and even if you fail, you can just retake it. Plus the exams on iDriveSafely are “open book” where you can just search for the right answer. iDriveSafely also does not have a final exam like some other courses do, and they guarantee you’ll pass.
My point here is, you don’t even really need to pay that much attention to the course itself. Just grab a beverage, some popcorn, but on a good series, and do your defensive driving course in the background. This is such an easy defensive driving course to pass and there’s not much in the way of videos to watch, so it’s pretty darn easy to multi-task.
Get the Best Price On iDriveSafely Here
How To Find A Fast Texas Online Defensive Driving Course
If for whatever reason you don’t like the courses I recommend, you can always perform your own research and find a a fast defensive driving course pretty easily. Here are some of the main things that you will need to be mindful of.
State Certified – Unfortunately, there are many low-quality online traffic schools out there who claim to offer “state-certified” Texas defensive driving courses online. If you look at the fine print, however, you will notice that many of these courses will use deceitful wording in the courses that are not actually state-certified. Either check with your court clerk’s office to receive a list of certified defensive driving courses in Texas, or you can check out our updated full list of online defensive driving courses in Texas here.
5+ Year Minimum Operating History – Most of the low-quality defensive driving courses are those which have not stood the test of time. There are several online traffic schools and defensive driving courses that have been certified in the state of Texas for two decades or longer. There is no reason to go with the brand-new defensive driving course that nobody has really test it out yet. Defensive driving courses such as iDriveSafely and Improv Traffic School are just two examples of schools that have had millions of people go through their course while maintaining a very high reputation.
U.S. Based Customer Service – The biggest complaint that people have about Texas defensive driving courses you take online is the lack of quality customer service. The vast majority of the online driving schools out there have customer service teams based overseas and primarily and non-English speaking countries. This can be a huge problem because many people will need to contact customer service at some point during their course. Defensive driving schools are required to use identity verification systems and often times you will need to call customer service or they will have to call you in order to verify personal information. Dealing with non-English speaking customer service reps or only having access to customer service during 9 to 5 business hours is of little use and can be very frustrating.
Verifying Positive Online Reviews – The sad truth about “online reviews” is that a large percentage of them are fake. This is quite obviously the case with online traffic school reviews seen on popular websites such as yelp. Many other review sites exist which are actually sites that are created by the online defensive driving courses themselves in order to boost their online reputation. Make sure that you are checking online traffic school reviews on multiple websites.
Finish Your Defensive Driving Course Early To Avoid Shipping Scams!
While not exactly a scam, there is one enormous hidden fee that almost all of the online defensive driving schools in Texas will try to slam you with if you tend to be a procrastinator.
Most of the online defensive driving courses will send you a certificate of completion within 10 to 14 days. That means, if you need to hand in your certificate of completion and just three or four days and you just now completed your defensive driving course, you will not receive your certificate in time. If you’re in this unfortunately situation, you will either need to request an extension from the court or you will need to pay additional fees for expedited shipping and processing. These fees can range from a ridiculous $25 to even over $50 just to receive your ticket overnight or in a couple of days.
Make sure you complete your defensive driving course as soon as possible to avoid any issues as your completion date nears. In the state of Texas, you still need to physically hand in your completion certificate and you cannot send your certificate electronically.
Is Taking A Texas Defensive Driving Course Online Or In A Classroom Better?
There is still a small percentage of people who prefer to take their defensive driving course in a typical classroom setting. Those courses are still available and are an option for you if you prefer not to use the computer to take your course. I can’t figure out why anyone would prefer a classroom, but hey, whatever the least painful method is for you, more power to ya.
The classroom-based defensive driving courses in Texas are generally held at community colleges, schools, and private driving school locations. Generally, the courses are about 6 to 7 hours long and may be completed in one day or over the course of two or three days. Most of them are held on weekends and evenings to work around work schedules. Your local court clerk’s office should have a list of all of the classroom-based defensive driving courses in your area.
In most cases, however, people enjoy the flexibility and ease of use when taking a defensive driving course online. Most of the higher quality defensive driving courses have a mixture of text, video, images, and sometimes even interactive games. You can also log in and log out of your course whenever you would like making it much more bearable as you can truly work around your own schedule and spend as much or as little time on it and one given setting. The decision is ultimately up to you and in the end, it doesn’t really matter because the same result is true – your ticket will be dismissed and your insurance rates will not go up.
See If You Qualify For Insurance Discounts
Many insurance companies will allow you to take a certified Texas online defensive driving course to lower your insurance premiums. You can usually save between 5% and 15% on your monthly premiums for insurance companies that allow this discount. After you complete your defensive driving course don’t forget to send a certificate of completion to your insurance provider to see if you can get a discount. The discount is usually good for up to two years and can be renewed by retaking the course.
Will My Defensive Driving Course Really Take 6 Full Hours?
Hate to break it to ya, but up. All defensive driving courses in Texas, whether you take it online or in a classroom, are required to take a minimum of 6 hours.
Classroom courses generally take a little bit longer as there is usually a 30 min to 1 hr break in the middle of it. And you can’t just blast through online courses because Texas requires the course to be timed.
There’s just no way around it and no shortcuts. Your 6 hour online defensive driving course in Texas really will take a full 6 hours. Sucks, I know.
Some Final Tips And Tricks To Passing Texas Online Defensive Driving Courses
For the most part, online defensive driving courses are pretty simple to pass even if you are really paying attention. The vast majority of courses including the ones I listed have guarantees that you’ll pass.
However, a good tip is to at least read through some of the material and even take some screenshots or pictures of each screen so that when you have to take a quiz or test you can go back and review the course material.
Also, it is not a good idea to have someone else take the course for you as they do have systems in place to verify your identity and having someone else take your course for you all end up giving you more headaches than you realize.
Could you trick Grandma into taking your defensive driving course for you and get away with it? Yes, you probably could. But again, it is not going to be as easy to fool their systems as you think and you’re better off simply getting through it on your own. Also, shame on you for tricking Grandma like that!
Good luck on your course. I feel your pain, but at least you know can sign up for a fast online defensive driving course approved in Texas at the lowest possible price.
Now quit procrastinating and get to it you traffic criminal!