So, you got a traffic ticket in Florida. It happens to the best of us, and that sinking feeling is universal. But before you just pay the fine and accept the consequences, you should know there’s a much smarter way to handle it.
Taking a Florida driving class for ticket, officially called the Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course, is your ticket out of trouble. It’s designed specifically to help you dodge points on your license, which is the key to keeping your insurance company from jacking up your rates.
Your Best Bet After a Ticket
Getting a citation doesn’t have to stain your driving record. When you choose to complete a state-approved BDI course, you’re taking control of the situation and turning a negative into a neutral. There’s a reason so many drivers go this route—it tackles the biggest headache of a ticket head-on: the points.
And let’s face it, more and more drivers are finding themselves in this exact situation. For four straight years, the number of traffic tickets handed out in Florida has been on the rise. One recent report highlighted a 5.6% jump, which translates to an extra 155,824 citations written statewide in just one year. That’s a lot of drivers who need a good solution.
Here’s the magic of the BDI course: once you complete it, the state “withholds adjudication.” In plain English, this means you aren’t officially convicted of the violation. The best part? No points are added to your driver’s license.
Why It’s a No-Brainer
Choosing a florida driving class for ticket gives you some serious advantages that go way beyond just wiping the slate clean for one violation.
- Keep Your Insurance Rates Down: This is the big one. Insurance companies look for points on your record to justify rate increases. No points, no hike. It’s that simple.
- A Much-Needed Refresher: You’ll brush up on Florida traffic laws (some of which have likely changed since you got your license) and learn valuable defensive driving techniques. It genuinely makes you a better, more aware driver.
- Do It On Your Own Time: Gone are the days of sitting in a stuffy classroom on a Saturday. You can find an approved traffic school online and knock out the course from your couch, whenever it fits your schedule.
When you weigh the options, spending a few hours on a straightforward online course is a tiny investment to protect your driving record and keep hundreds of dollars in your pocket.
So, you got a traffic ticket in Florida. Before you do anything else, you need to figure out if you can actually take a driver improvement course to keep the points off your license. Not everyone gets that option, and the state has some pretty clear rules.
Let’s walk through what you need to know.
Are You a Good Candidate for Traffic School?
First, think about your driving record over the past year. Florida law is specific: you can only choose to take a Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course once every 12 months. There’s also a lifetime limit—you can only use this option five times, total. If you took a class for a speeding ticket 10 months ago, you’ll have to wait a couple more months before you’re eligible again.
The type of ticket you received is just as important. Most common moving violations, like running a stop sign or a minor speeding ticket (say, 14 mph over), are usually eligible. This is what the BDI course was designed for.
However, certain violations will immediately disqualify you. You cannot elect to take a traffic school course if you were cited for:
- Speeding 30 mph or more over the limit
- Passing a stopped school bus
- Leaving the scene of an accident
- Any citation related to a DUI
A good rule of thumb is if the ticket says you have a mandatory court appearance, traffic school isn’t on the table. It’s always smart to check out the different basic driver improvement courses in Florida to understand what they cover and confirm they fit your situation.
The goal here is simple: you get a ticket, you take a class, and you keep your record clean. This visual breaks down that straightforward process.
Choosing the BDI course is your most direct path to avoiding those costly points on your license, which is exactly what you want after getting a ticket.
Florida Driving Class Eligibility Checklist
To make it even easier, here’s a quick checklist. If you can answer “Yes” to the first three questions, you’re likely in good shape.
| Eligibility Requirement | Can I Take the Class? | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| No Class in Past 12 Months | Yes / No | Check the date of your last BDI course completion certificate. |
| Fewer Than 5 Lifetime Uses | Yes / No | You have a maximum of five BDI elections in your lifetime. |
| Non-Criminal Violation | Yes / No | Your ticket is for a standard moving violation (e.g., speeding under 30 mph over). |
| No Commercial License (CDL) | Yes / No | CDL holders are not eligible to take a BDI course to remove points. |
This table should give you a clear and immediate answer about whether you can move forward with electing traffic school.
Don’t miss the deadline! You have to inform the Clerk of Court in the county where you got the ticket of your decision to take a driving class. This isn’t optional, and it must be done within 30 days of the citation date. If you miss this window, you lose your chance.
Getting Your Online Driving Class Done
Alright, so you’ve confirmed you’re eligible to take a traffic course. Now for the easy part: finding a class and knocking it out. Forget stuffy classrooms—today’s courses are built for real life, letting you handle the requirement without turning your schedule upside down.
First things first, and this is the most important part: you absolutely must choose a provider approved by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). I can’t stress this enough. If the school isn’t on the official state-approved list, the county clerk won’t accept your certificate. Picking some random course you found online is a surefire way to waste your time and money.
Signing Up for Your Course
Enrolling in a BDI course is usually painless. To make it go even faster, just get a couple of things ready before you sit down to register.
You’ll want to have this info on hand:
- Your driver’s license number and full name
- The citation number from your traffic ticket
- The county where the officer issued the ticket
Having this ready means you can fly through the signup process in minutes. Any reputable provider, like our own online driving course for Florida drivers, will walk you through a simple and secure registration right on their website.
A Quick Tip from Experience: Don’t just toss your ticket in the glove compartment. You’ll need that citation number again when you submit your course certificate, so keep it somewhere you won’t forget.
The Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course is a 4-hour program, but don’t let that number scare you. It’s completely online, which means you can chip away at it whenever you have a spare moment. You can start and stop as you please, as long as you finish before your court deadline.
The course itself covers the essentials—Florida traffic laws, smart defensive driving techniques, and the dangers of impaired driving. It’s a solid refresher.
This flexibility is the best part. You can do a module on your lunch break, another after the kids are in bed, or even knock it out from your phone while waiting for an appointment. Modern courses are designed to work around your life, not the other way around.
Getting Your Certificate to the Clerk and Closing the Case
That feeling when you pass the final quiz is fantastic, but don’t celebrate just yet. You’ve done the work to complete your Florida driving class for ticket, but the job isn’t finished until the county clerk has your certificate of completion in hand.
This is the final, crucial step where a lot of drivers unfortunately drop the ball. How you get the certificate to the courthouse depends entirely on the county that issued your ticket. Big counties like Miami-Dade often have a convenient online portal for you to upload a digital copy. Smaller or more traditional counties might still require you to mail it in or even drop it off in person.
Don’t Miss Your Deadline
The single most important piece of this puzzle is your deadline. You’ll typically have 30, 60, or 90 days to get that certificate submitted, starting from the day you officially elected to take the course. That specific deadline should be printed on the paperwork you got from the clerk when you paid the ticket.
If you can’t find it or you’re even slightly unsure, pick up the phone and call the Clerk of Court’s office for that county. Guessing is a gamble you can’t afford to take. Missing the deadline means all your effort was for nothing—the court will add the points to your license anyway, and you won’t get a refund for the course or the fine.
A Tip from Experience: However you turn in your certificate, get proof of submission. An email confirmation from the online portal, a certified mail receipt, or a stamped copy from the clerk’s window is your golden ticket. I’ve seen too many situations where paperwork gets lost, and that little piece of paper is the only thing that can save you from a major hassle.
Once you’ve submitted it, give it a couple of weeks to process. Then, do one last check by pulling your official Florida driving record online. You’re looking for the magic words: “adjudication withheld.” This confirms no points were added and that you’ve officially put this ticket behind you.
For a deeper dive into the entire process, check out our complete guide on how to dismiss a Florida traffic ticket.
So you got a ticket and you’re taking a Florida driving class to keep points off your license. Smart move. But even with the best intentions, a few simple missteps can turn this straightforward process into a real mess. Let’s walk through the common pitfalls I’ve seen trip people up, so you can make sure your effort actually counts.
The single biggest (and most costly) mistake is paying the full ticket fine right away. In the eyes of the court, paying the fine is an admission of guilt. Once you do that, you’ve automatically waived your right to take the course for that violation. You must notify the Clerk of Court of your intent to take traffic school before you pay anything.
Another classic error? Assuming the driving school sends your completion certificate to the court. While a few schools might offer this as a premium service, the vast majority do not. It’s almost always your responsibility to get that certificate submitted on time. Don’t let your hard work go to waste by forgetting this final step.
Don’t Get Tripped Up by Deadlines and Details
Timing is absolutely critical here. From the day you get your ticket, the clock starts ticking. You have a strict 30-day window to tell the Clerk of Court you’re electing the traffic school option. If you miss that deadline, the option is gone for good.
Just as important is the course you choose. Signing up for a random online driving class won’t cut it. You have to take a course that’s officially approved by the Florida DHSMV, otherwise, the court won’t accept your certificate. It’s like doing all the homework for the wrong class—you get zero credit.
The bottom line is this: Immediately verify your chosen course is on the official state-approved list and put your certificate submission deadline on your calendar. Handling these two things upfront will save you from the most common and frustrating headaches drivers face.
And remember why these courses exist in the first place—to make our roads safer. It’s not just about avoiding points. Consider that in a recent year, teen drivers alone were involved in 80,865 crashes in Florida, which resulted in 323 fatalities. Good driver education can make a real difference. You can dig into more of these Florida teen driving safety facts to see why taking these courses seriously matters for everyone.
Got Questions About Driving School? We’ve Got Answers.
Even after you’ve decided to take a driving class, a few questions always seem to pop up. Let’s walk through the ones we hear most often so you know exactly what to expect.
Will Taking a Driving Class Make the Ticket Disappear?
This is the number one question on everyone’s mind, and the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. The traffic class doesn’t scrub the ticket from your full driving history. What it does do is far more valuable: it prompts the court to “withhold adjudication.”
That’s a fancy legal phrase that basically means you won’t be formally convicted of the violation. The big win here? No points get added to your license. This is crucial because insurance companies use points to jack up your rates.
Think of it this way: The ticket still exists in the deep archives of your record, but the conviction and the points vanish. As far as your insurance provider is concerned, it’s like it never happened.
What’s the Real Cost of a Florida BDI Course?
The 4-hour Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course itself is surprisingly affordable. You’ll find that most state-approved online providers, like us, charge somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 to $40.
Just remember, that’s not the only payment you’ll make. You’ll still have to pay the traffic fine (though it’s usually reduced) and some court fees to the county clerk’s office when you choose the traffic school option. But even when you add it all up, it’s almost always a better deal than just paying the ticket and facing years of higher insurance premiums.
I Have a CDL. Can I Still Take the Class?
Unfortunately, this is a hard no. In Florida, if you hold a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), you are not eligible to complete a BDI course to avoid points for a moving violation.
This rule is strict and applies no matter what you were driving at the time—your personal pickup truck or your commercial rig. The state holds commercial drivers to a much higher standard, and this particular option just isn’t on the table for them.
Ready to protect your driving record and keep your insurance rates from climbing? BDISchool offers a fully online, state-approved course you can finish at your own pace. Get started today and leave that ticket in the rearview mirror by visiting https://bdischool.com.
