Florida's Driver Point System
Florida assigns points to most moving violation convictions, and accumulating too many in a rolling window triggers an automatic license suspension. The Florida system is more aggressive than most: a single year of careless driving can put a license out of service for 30 days, and a 3-year accumulation can cost a year of driving privileges.
How Florida points work
Florida Statute §322.27 sets the point values and the thresholds for suspension. Points are added on conviction (or on a plea of nolo contendere with adjudication) and accumulate on a rolling timeline. Most points stay on the record for 5 years, but they only count toward suspension thresholds within their respective rolling windows. Florida is one of the few states where the 12/18/24 thresholds use different rolling windows.
Common point values
| Violation | Points |
|---|---|
| Speeding less than 15 mph over | 3 |
| Speeding 15 mph or more over | 4 |
| Speeding resulting in an accident | 6 |
| Reckless driving | 4 |
| Stop sign / red light violation | 3 (4 with crash) |
| Improper turn / lane change | 3 |
| Failure to yield right-of-way | 3 (4 with crash) |
| Open container / unlawful possession of alcohol | 3 |
| Leaving the scene of a crash with property damage | 6 |
| Texting while driving (Florida) | 3 in school zone, 0 elsewhere |
| Passing a stopped school bus | 4 |
| Driving 50+ mph above the limit | 4 (license revoked) |
DUI convictions do not add points to the Florida record — they trigger suspension and revocation under separate provisions of FS §316.193.
Florida suspension thresholds
Florida applies three rolling-window thresholds to driving privileges:
- 12 points in 12 months — 30-day license suspension.
- 18 points in 18 months — 3-month license suspension.
- 24 points in 36 months — 1-year license suspension.
Hitting any threshold triggers an FLHSMV notice of suspension that takes effect 30 days from issuance unless the driver requests a hearing. The hearing addresses point accuracy and any due-process concerns; it does not adjudicate the underlying violations themselves.
Removing points
Florida offers two main ways to keep points off the record:
- Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) School. Florida law allows a driver who elects BDI school within 30 days of a citation to have the violation withheld from adjudication — meaning no points are added to the record and the violation does not appear on the public-facing driving record. Eligibility: most non-criminal moving violations, no CDL holders, no DUI, no leaving-the-scene, no excessive speed (50+ mph over). The driver can use the BDI election once per 12 months, up to 5 times in a lifetime.
- Time. Most points decay automatically — typically 5 years from violation date.
BDI school details
BDI is a 4-hour state-approved course (online or in classroom) costing $20-$40. To use it for point avoidance, the driver:
- Pays the citation fine plus elects BDI school at the County Clerk of Court — must be done within 30 days of the citation.
- Completes the 4-hour BDI course at a state-approved provider.
- Submits the completion certificate to the Clerk of Court within 90 days.
The Clerk withholds adjudication, no points are added to the FLHSMV record, and most insurers don't see the violation. Note that the violation still shows up on a "complete" Florida driving record but is marked as withheld.
Provisional and teen drivers
A Florida teen operator license holder follows the same point thresholds, but a single moving-violation conviction during the learner permit period resets the 12-month conviction-free clock. Teen drivers also lose certain BDI eligibility — the school may not be available without parent or guardian co-signature.
CDL holders
A Florida CDL holder is subject to federal disqualification rules from FMCSA on top of state law. A "serious traffic violation" — speeding 15+ mph over, reckless driving, lane-change violations, following too closely — leads to 60-day disqualification on a second offense within 3 years. CDL holders are also not eligible for BDI school for the purpose of avoiding point accumulation on a CDL license. See commercial license.
Out-of-state convictions
Through the multi-state Driver License Compact, FLHSMV receives notice of moving violation and DUI convictions in nearly every other state. They appear on the Florida record and add points as if the violation had occurred in Florida. The five non-Compact states (Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, Wisconsin) report some violations through other channels.