REVIEW: Top 5 Texas Online Defensive Driving Schools

by Jim Thompson | Last Updated: March 1, 2021

Recently get a ticket you’re trying to dismiss? Are you looking to save some money on your car insurance? Has your boss recently required you to take a driver safety course as a condition of employment? if your answer to any of these questions is yes, you are clearly in the market for a traffic school course. but what’s the best way to get traffic school marked off your to-do list?

As with most anything else in our lives these days, the answer to that last question is “to-do” it online. Sure, you could go to a classroom, and classroom courses can be fun. However, if you lead the same busy life that most of us do, an internet course is probably the best option. 

If you’ve already started shopping for a course, you might be overwhelmed at this point. We don’t blame you at all; Texas has a LOT of traffic school providers. How do you know where to begin?

We’d like to give you a hand here. We’re going to discuss eligibility requirements for Texas driver safety courses and give a quick review of the five Texas providers that we think are the best. And, if you don’t agree with us, we’re also going to provide a list of all the current providers in the state. Get ready to do some scrolling, it’s a pretty long list.

Who Is Eligible to Attend Traffic School?

The answer to that question depends on why you are taking the course. If you were taking it for a job requirement or for an insurance discount, there are no restrictions on whether or not you can take a course. On the other hand, if ticket dismissal is your goal, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has some rules you must follow.

BTW—If this is your first time taking a course, you may notice that sometimes I say defensive driving, and other times I say driver safety. In Texas, courts call these courses “driver safety classes” while everyone else knows them as “defensive driving.” Don’t worry, whatever it’s called, either one will get the job done.

The State of Texas lays out some basic conditions for ticket dismissal. To be eligible, a driver must meet the following criteria:

• A candidate cannot have attended a defensive driving course for a citation issued within the past 12 months. 
• Candidates receiving multiple violations are only eligible to dismiss one of them.
• Candidates who are holders of Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL’s) are not eligible for dismissal, even when driving their personal vehicles.
• The following violations CANNOT be dismissed with defensive driving:
  • Speeding 25 MPH or more over the posted limit
  • Driving at excessive speed (95 MPH or more)
  • Passing a school bus
  • Leaving the scene of an accident
  • Tickets written in a construction zone with workers present
  • Fleeing from the police

Did you tick all the boxes? Then let’s find you a course.

Our Recommendations for Texas Defensive Driving

Texas’s Top-Rated, TDLR-Approved Online Defensive Driving Schools

Let’s Break ‘Em Down

More than anything, online defensive driving courses offer freedom and schedule flexibility not found in a classroom course. What makes one better than another? Let’s look at a few reasons, plus what their students say about them.

iDrive Safely

iDriveSafely was one of the first online driver safety providers in the industry. They have served over 5,000,000 customers over their long history and have maintained a very good reputation. The school has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and a nearly 5-star rating on TrustPilot.

• What students are saying—
  • Mary N. says “The course was easy to follow.”
  • John S. says “It was specific to my state and very thorough.”
  • Janet W. says “I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was.”

• Advantages of iDrive Safely
  • Trusted by 5,000,000 customers
  • Great ratings by customers, Trustpilot, and the BBB
  • Works well on mobile devices

Approved Course Defensive Driving

Approved Course is a family-run defensive driving company that has focused exclusively on the state of Texas for over a decade. The author of the course began his defensive driving career in the late ’90s as a classroom instructor, honing the craft of communicating boring material in an entertaining way. He certainly poured the lessons learned in the classroom into his online course. John appears in the course several times, keeping things moving and keeping you engaged. There is much more to be said about the father and son team that brings you Approved Course, and we much have more, if you’re interested.

• What students are saying—
  • Radhika G. says “Super easy to use, very informative.”
  • Susan D. says “I did not expect to learn a lot, but I did.”
  • Laura S. says “Thank you, very helpful. God bless and may the force be with you!”

• Advantages of Approved Course
  • Great customer service
  • 100% video version available
  • Pass the course with NO FINAL EXAM

A Sense Of Humor

A Sense Of Humor Driving is one of the oldest defensive driving courses in Texas. They first received state certification in 1992, teaching defensive driving in classrooms in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. In 2006, they became one of the first online defensive driving providers in the state. Fortunately, this didn’t change the core of who they are—a locally owned Texas small business serving other Texans. They stayed local and have a vested interest in teaching others to drive safely because they share the road with their students every day. To make things better for students going forward, they have recently updated their entire site to make it more user-friendly.  

• What students are saying—
  • Shannon T. says “Thank you for your helpful, humorous, informative course.”
  • Deborah H. says “…not as stressful as I expected.”
  • Carolina O. says “Thank you for making this so easy!”

• Advantages of A Sense of Humor
  • Texas-based customer service
  • Years of industry experience
  • New, updated interface

Aceable Online Defensive Driving

Now we turn our attention from one of the oldest courses in Texas to one of the newest, Aceable defensive driving. The company launched in 2006 with a revolutionary drivers ed phone app and they have been innovating and disrupting ever since. The company, headquartered in Austin, then developed a defensive driving course on this same platform, making it hands down the best defensive driving course to take on a mobile device. The course was developed by a team of driving experts and online learning specialists from Harvard so you can be sure the information contained in the course is not only accurate and powerful but is presented in a way to ensure maximum retention. For defensive driving on the go, Aceable is certainly the way to go.

• What students are saying—
  • Eliseo says “Absolutely amazing highly recommended”
  • Logan says “Amazing. Taught me a lot!”
  • Emmett says “The way Aceable is set up great for people who are working jobs and going to school”

• Advantages of Aceable
  • One of a kind phone app
  • Customer service available through email, live chat, or social media
  • Money-back guarantee

Defensive Driving By Improv Comedy Club

My Improv started in the driving business over 30 years ago and was founded in partnership with the World-Famous Improv Comedy Club. Their course was written by professional Hollywood writers and the curriculum, while addressing a serious subject, does so in a humorous and light-hearted way. As an added bonus, they will throw in four tickets to your nearest Improv comedy Club if you choose their course.

• What students are saying—
  • Guillermo G. says “I really recommend this online driving school…”
  • Saurabh G. says “The entire process is simple, with a nice interface!”
  • Casey W. says “As blissful as traffic school can get.”

• Advantages of MyImprov
  • Humorous
  • Flexible
  • Short (as little as two-question) unit quizzes

If None of These “Float Your Boat”

Texas has more (a LOT more) online defensive driving/traffic school choices. Here’s a list of all the ones we know of.

If you have more questions about Texas traffic tickets, we have more answers, and a look at the truth about Texas defensive driving to help you decide.

Complete List of Texas TDLR-Approved Online Defensive Driving Schools