Ask A Cop – Paying off speeding tickets

Published 3:08 pm Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Jean from Winnie Asks- Officer Antoine I have a friend that has just received her 4th speeding ticket in 2 years, how many more tickets can she receive before her license is suspended? She don’t believe her license will be suspended because she pays her tickets in full. Officer Antoine how many tickets can a driver get before their license is suspended in Texas?

Answer- Good Question Jean! Speeding kills and Texas has developed a point system to keep track of drivers behavior. The Texas point system is plain to understand. Jessica moving violations i.e speeding over 10 miles mph over the posted speed limit, disregarding  stop sign/ Red lights are two points and moving violations that result in a crash are three points. Jean In Texas drivers will have to start paying surcharge if they accumulate six or more points in at 3 year period. The amount drivers have to pay increases with the number of points accumulated if a driver is convicted of 4 moving points in the 12 month period or seven months once in a 24 month. The driver will have to have his or in this case her license suspended. Jean your friend should be very concerned and should inquire about the current status of her Texas drivers license. Of course the status of her license will be based on whether or not her speeding convictions were over 10 mph of the posted speed limit. 

Sara from Port Arthur Asks- Officer Antoine, you recently spoke about laws regarding making U- Turns on the roadway. As a family member and I were discussing this, we came up with the thought of U-Turns at intersections. Is it legal to make a U-Turn at a signal intersection? If so, when is it permissible to make a U-Turn at an intersection? Thanks in advance for all of the wonderful information you deliver to readers on a weekly basis…You have been more of a help to readers in this area than you know. It seems like everywhere I go, people know and talk about your article Ask A Cop and your entertaining radio show on The Breeze 96.9fm and your crazy crew

Answer- Good Question Sara! Believe it or not, but after over a decade of having this column in The News, comments like yours are reassuring to me that we’re still reaching motorists in Port Arthur and neighboring communities. Sara, yes, U-Turns are permitted at signal intersections as long as they can be performed safely. If there’s a barrier or boulevard between you and the opposite direction you desire to go, you must wait until your traffic signal turns green. So, if you desire to make a U-Turn at an intersection, know that it’s permissible as long as it done safely. I will add you can make a U-Turn at a signal intersection on a red light!!! of having this column in The News, comments like yours are reassuring to me that we’re still reaching motorists in Port Arthur and neighboring communities. Sara, yes, U-Turns are permitted at signal intersections as long as they can be performed safely. If there’s a barrier or boulevard between you and the opposite direction you desire to go, you must wait until your traffic signal turns green. So, if you desire to make a U-Turn at an intersection, know that it’s permissible as long as it done safely. I will add you can make a U-Turn at a signal intersection on a red light!!! Yes Sara The breeze 96.9fm has been an awesome platform to connect with the citizens of Port Arthur and beyond, I’m grateful for crew who have joined in to make the program a success 

Troy from Nederland Asks- Officer Antoine, thank you and thanks to “The News” for coming up with such a wonderful plan to get this publication to our community on a weekly basis. I would encourage ANYONE to pick up a weekly edition and actually READ this article. I embrace the wealth of information I have received just from reading your column. Now Officer Antoine, I had a question about someone riding in the trunk of a vehicle, and I discovered by following your column to my surprise I found that given the circumstances that riding in the trunk was permissible by state law. I have something I observed that made me scratch my head wondering if it was legal. As I traveled down the road I observed someone with their passenger door ajar because they were transporting items that were too large and it would not allow them to close the front passenger door. The passenger door wasn’t fully opened but I and anyone else to pass could clearly see the door was not secured and closed like it is supposed to be. Is it illegal to ride down the road without closing the passenger or any door?

Answer- Good question Troy! Thanks for being a regular reader, I’m humbled and honored that you and MANY others are being helped by the information provided by Port Arthur Police Department, The News and The Breeze 96fm. Troy, there’s no law in the Transportation Code that says you MUST have all doors shut while traveling on the road. But Troy state law does not allow passenger vehicles to carry a load that will extend 6 inches beyond the right side of its fender, so if the passenger door is opened beyond 6 inches from the fender, then they are in violation. See the Transportation Code 621.201(c) 

Join Me, Officer Antoine and the CREW Stephen “Buzzard Boots” Mosley, Lelo “mouth of Hwy 69/73” I Washington & Tejas “Lil Man”Morning Star for Ask A Cop live, on KSAP 96.9 FM The Breeze radio station, every Tuesday for 2 hours from 1p-3:00p. Tune in and listen as Officer Antoine discusses in detail the newly released “Ask A Cop” article that’s printed in The News. You can also tune in via the internet www.ksap969thebreeze.org. Feel free to call in and ask your question live to Officer Antoine at (409) 982-0247. *Now Ask A Cop is printed weekly in El Perico Hispanic Newspaper and weekly broadcast every Tuesday at 4:30p-5pm on Hispanic radio station KVAP-LP 95.5fm. Remember to email your questions torickey.antoine@portarthurtx.gov, or call 409-983-8673 and leave a voice mail question, or mail them to: Ofc. Rickey Antoine,645 4th Street, Port Arthur, Texas, 77640. If you happen to see me in public you can always free and comfortable to approach and “Ask A Cop”!