by
John Fabel | Last Updated: September 22, 2022 With nearly 900,000 residents potentially on the road at any given time, driving in Fort Worth can be challenging. In Texas’s fifth-largest city, driving can sometimes get as spicy as the salsa at Joe T. Garcia’s.
Fort Worth can be a dangerous place to drive, both physically and fiscally. Fort Worth averages 15,000+ collisions per year, with nearly a third resulting in injuries or fatalities.
Since most accidents are caused by a failure to control speed, law enforcement does its best to slow this trend by writing tickets. In the US, 100,000 speeding tickets are written every day, and, no doubt, Fort Worth drivers get their fair share. At an average cost of $150 a ticket, the nation’s speeders pay out nearly $5.5 billion dollars in fines, and each of them faces a 22-25% increase in their car insurance premiums for the next three years.
All of these costs could be drastically reduced with better driving by all. Fort Worth drivers can bring these numbers down by taking defensive driving (also known in Texas as a “driver safety course”). Tips and reminders of how to navigate the roads safely are the main topics of any driving course. The stated purpose of a TDLR-approved course is to teach drivers to “change their perceptions, attitudes, and skills to make Texas roads and highways a safer place to drive.” Other benefits of taking a defensive driving course include ticket dismissal and insurance savings, all at a reasonable cost.
The Easiest Way to Take Defensive Driving in Fort Worth? Do it Online
With the hectic pace of life, the easiest way to complete a course is to take it online. The ability to work at your own pace from your own place makes it the most convenient way, too. Any of the schools listed below offer courses approved for ticket dismissal and/or insurance discount. And you can choose any of them with confidence as they are fully certified by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR).
Fort Worth’s Best TDLR-Approved Online Defensive Driving Providers
School | Name | TDLR Ref # | Phone | Sign Up |
 | CP-814 | |||
 #1 in TX! | CP-280 | |||
 | CP-262 | |||
 | CP-024 | |||
  | CP-090 |
Online Not for You?
We understand that learning online is not everybody’s preference. If you prefer to “get your learnin’ live,” you can still get out and take defensive driving in a classroom.
Depending on the school, classroom defensive driving has always been fun; being in the presence of humans again might even make it more so. Now I’m not gonna lie; classroom defensive driving in Fort Worth is hard to find anymore. Here are some schools where you can still make that happen.
Austin Driving School
Based in Austin with locations in Tarrant County, Austin Driving School is state-certified, bonded, and insured, offering defensive driving and many other driving courses. They also offer teen drivers ed, adult drivers ed, and courses for minor in possession offenders, DWI offenders, and drug offenders. In all of their offerings, Austin Driving School is committed to saving lives, reducing stress, and promoting responsible driving habits.
Visit AustinDrivingSchool.com for locations or call (512) 280-4499
First Class Driver
Whether you are looking to get your license, needing to remove a traffic ticket, or considering making driving a full-time or part-time profession, First Class Driver is the place to start. First Class is a full-service driving center making it easy and fun to get behind the wheel. They have helped thousands of people enjoy the fun and freedom of being a safe, licensed driver.
4255 Bryant Irvin Rd Ste 105, Fort Worth, TX 76109 or call (817) 731-0200
In the bygone B.C. (before Covid) days, schools like Comedy Guys, Funny Bone, and My Improv were famous for their defensive driving classes that were more or less dinner and a show. Hopefully, they’ll be back soon.
If You Have Received a Ticket in Fort Worth
Defensive driving courses can be used to improve driving skills and earn insurance discounts, but the benefit most people look for is ticket dismissal.
The first step to taking defensive driving is receiving permission to do so. The Fort Worth process for asking “pretty please” can happen:
Dismissal for most citations is possible unless the ticket was written:
- For speeding 25 miles per hour (or more) over the posted limit
- Passing a stopped school bus
- In a posted construction zone while workers are present
- Leaving the scene of an accident
- Fleeing police
Ticket dismissal is also not a possibility if you are the holder of a Commercial Drivers License (CDL) or if you have dismissed a ticket with defensive driving in the past 12 months.
Driving in Fort Worth
Fort Worth is home to an excellent highway system, but the locals all seem to refer to them by name instead of number. Let’s break down a few.
If you are driving on:
- State Highway 121, you’re on Airport Freeway
- State Highway 121 (between I-30 and U.S. 67), you’re on Chisholm Trail Parkway
- Interstate 20 (west of Interstate 635), you’re on Ronald Reagan Freeway
- Interstate 30 (east of Interstate 35W), you’re on East Freeway
- Interstate 30 (west of Interstate 35W), you’re on Tom Landry Freeway
- Interstate 35 W (north of Interstate 30), you’re on North Freeway
- Interstate 35 W (south of Interstate 30), you’re on South Freeway
More Cool Stuff About Fort Worth
Besides its wide variety of peculiarly named freeways, Texas’ fifth-largest city has a lot to offer. What might you discover if you headed there?
Fort Worth has racked up some great accolades as a city.
- Voted one of “50 Best Places to Travel” in 2021″ in Travel & Leisure magazine
- One of “8 Underrated US Destinations that Should be on Your Radar in 2021” according to Oyster.com.
- One of “21 Best Places to Retire in 2021” according to RetireBetterNow.com.
- Best (and first) Zoo in America according to USA Today.
- The Trinity River was rated among the top 7 places to go tubing in Texas by Wide Open Country.
- Voted one of the “25 Best Places for Young Professionals” by U.S. News & World Report,
Other fun facts about Fort Worth include:
- Stockyards National Historic District, where you can learn about Fort Worth’s western heritage, including daily cattle drives.
- A vibrant Cultural District containing five world-class museums in a walkable, landscaped setting.
- A very walkable downtown featuring the restaurants and nightlife of Sundance Square Plaza and Bass Performance Hall.
- The Fort Worth bike-share program offers more than 40 stations connecting the city’s leading attractions.
- For foodies, Fort Worth is home to contemporary western cuisine, innovative breweries, and distilleries.
- Many outdoor festivals and celebrations including:
- Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival
- Parade of Lights
- Mayfest
- Rockin’ the River
- and concerts on the banks of the Trinity.
- Ever wonder where your money comes from? 60 percent of it is printed at the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth.
- Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway has seating for nearly 155,000 spectators and has the world’s largest High-definition screen.
With all these great attractions, lots of people make the trip to Fort Worth.
- The city hosts an estimated number of 8.8 million out-of-town visitors annually.
- These visitors have an economic impact of $2.3 billion annually.
- Tourism creates over 22,500 hospitality and tourism industry workers.
- 13,477 hotel rooms accommodate these visitors, with 2,622 rooms downtown.
- The largest number of international visitors come from Mexico, Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany, and China.
Whatever you decide to see in Fort Worth, be careful driving to get there. The “City Where the West Begins” can pose some real traffic challenges. Consider taking a defensive driving course to make sure you get to your “whatever” safely.
