The 5 Best Online Traffic Schools in Florida
If you paid attention to what your dad told you when you were a kid, you'll know that driving is a privilege and not a right. So if you've driven like a dope and racked up speeding tickets or accidents, the nice folks at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) are going to suspend that privilege. If you don't have a job or kids or other responsibilities, and you're fast enough to outrun the alligators, you can accept your fate and ride your 10-speed everywhere for the duration of the suspension. But if you're like the rest of us, you'd probably like to get your license back, tout suite!
Thankfully, Florida offers drivers with suspended driving privileges the chance to rehabilitate themselves, through Driver Improvement Schools that are certified and licensed by the state. If you're looking to take one of Florida's range of Driver Improvement Schools, we'll run you through the options, give you the basics on what to look for and help you find the best online options available.
Top 5 Online Basic Driver Improvement Schools Approved by the FLHSMV
- IDriveSafely (statewide)
- Safe2Drive (statewide)
- Aceable (Miami Dade County Only)
- Florida Fun Online Traffic School (statewide)
- IMPROVLearning (statewide)
You can also scroll down for a list of Advanced Driver Improvement Schools in Florida.
Florida's Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) School
If you’ve run into some issues driving, Florida has a couple of methods of remediating those problems. The first step is to understand the Florida Basic Driver Improvement school program and what it’s set up to do.
If you've gotten a driving citation for speeding, or any other minor traffic infraction, Florida allows you to take a Basic Driver Improvement class to eliminate the assessment of points on your license. There's a clear procedure to follow when taking the class. Drivers must:
- Voluntarily elect this option within 30 days from the date of the citation.
- Inform the clerk of court in the county where the citation was issued prior to taking the class.
- Pay the requisite fees to the clerk of court in the county where the citation was issued.
It's important to know that if you've let 30 days pass from the date of your citation, you're no longer allowed to take the course.
There are several significant benefits to taking Florida's Basic Driver Improvement course:
- Points won't accumulate on your driving record. (Why is avoiding points a good idea? Points eliminate any safe driver discounts you may have become accustomed to and can increase your insurance rates.)
- The court withholds any adjudication of guilt.
- Civil fines are reduced.
- Your insurance company can't raise your rates or issue a non-renewal notice, unless a crash was involved and the insurance company incurred a loss.
Not all drivers are allowed to take the Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course in Florida. If you meet any of the following descriptions, you will not be allowed to take the class:
- If you've already attended a BDI course in the last 12 months, you're not allowed to take the course again.
- If you've taken a BDI course five times in your lifetime, Florida figures they've given you plenty of chances at basic driver improvement already, and another one won't help.
- If you hold a Commercial Driver's License (CDL).
- If you were cited for going faster than 30 mph over the posted speed limit, that's reckless and Florida doesn't think an eight-hour class is going to help much. (For that matter, neither do we!)
Florida's Advanced Driver Improvement School (ADI)
For drivers who find themselves in even hotter water than just a minor ticket, Florida offers the Advanced Driver Improvement course (ADI). Similar to the Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) course, the ADI is administered by an approved list of third party providers, but there are significantly fewer of those providers than those of the BDI courses.
Top 5 Online Advanced Driver Improvement Schools Approved by the FLHSMV:
- American Safety Council
- Florida Educational Driving School
- National Traffic Safety Institute
- Driver Training Associates (TicketSchool.com)
- Traffic School Online
As the name suggests, this course is a lot more advanced than the basic program. It requires 12 hours of education and the requirements are much more strict.
ADI courses are for drivers that aren't looking to just avoid points; they're for drivers that have had their license suspended. To be suspended for points, drivers have accumulated:
- 12 points within 12 months (30 day suspension)
- 18 points within 18 months (3 month suspension)
- 24 points within 36 months (1 year suspension)
If you want your driver's license reinstated for points, for a DUI-related infraction or by court order, you MUST take an Advanced Driver Improvement course. Additionally, according to Florida's “Three Crashes in Three Years” law, drivers that have had three crashes in which they were at fault within three years must also take the ADI course.
Those drivers who have had three crashes in a 36 month period must:
- Complete 12 hours of an approved FLHSMV Advanced Driver Improvement course
- Complete four hours of behind-the-wheel training from a FLHSMV-approved, Florida licensed commercial driving school
- Pass a road test with an approved driver's license examiner or tax collector licensing agent.
If drivers fail to complete these requirements within 90 days, a conviction results in the cancellation of their driver's license.
How to Find a Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) Course
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles provides a list of more than 35 different vendors that can help you through the Basic Driver Improvement Course (BDI). These vendors offer courses in several different ways:
Classroom - If you've got plenty of time to kill, no place else to go, and a desire to meet strangers in a dingy room, then a physical classroom may be an option for you. These types of courses require that you show up at a predetermined location and sit in a classroom full of other offenders -- er, "students" -- and take the classes in person.
On the plus side, you do get more personalized education. There's an instructor present and depending upon how engaging they are, you can actually learn something. These classes are only four hours long, so it's not like you'll need to carve time out of your schedule for weeks on end. It's a half-day deal and you walk out with a certificate.
There are several approved vendors on the FLHSMV list that offer classroom instruction ONLY, and several others that have either a classroom or an online option.
Online - It's fair to say that in the late 2010s, most people are taking a Florida Basic Driver Improvement course online.
Online Traffic School allows you to complete a course with a lot more flexibility than courses offered in person.
If you have a job or a kid at home, an online course allows you to fit driver improvement into your schedule. The bulk of the approved vendors on the FLHSMV website have online options.
- CD/DVD - If you're still walking around in a Member's Only jacket and your idea of entertainment on a Thursday night revolves around Friends, you may want to take one of the handful of options approved by Florida that provide instruction via DVD.
How to Find a Florida Advanced Driver Improvement (ADI) Course
The requirements for Advanced Driver Improvement in Florida are a lot more stringent, and the vendors that provide these classes are much fewer and further between. At the time of this writing, Florida only approved of seven vendors for the courses.
The Advanced Driver Improvement course requires three times the time commitment of the Basic Driver Improvement course. You need to complete twelve hours of instruction to receive your enrollment letter to have your license reinstated.
Similar to the Basic Driver Improvement course, you have a few options for completing your 12 hours of instruction:
- Classroom: All but one of the approved vendors on Florida's list have classrooms for completion of your 12 hours of instruction.
- Online: Five of Florida's approved vendors offer an online instruction option.
How We Selected the Top Florida Online Driver Improvement Schools
Here's how we chose our recommendations:
STATE LICENSED
All of the companies we've recommended are on Florida's list of approved driver improvement schools. If you're Googling "Florida Traffic School" a zillion potential vendors show up that would gladly take your money, but there's only a shortlist of schools that are approved to provide the Basic Driver Improvement classes, and only 1/6th of that number are approved to provide the Advanced Driver Improvement course.
By selecting one of the vendors on our list, you know that they've been approved to provide instruction in Florida.
COST
Costs for these classes vary pretty significantly. Basic Driver Improvement classes can be as low as $5, while the Advanced Driver Improvement classes can be as much as $99. In general, the courses we recommend fall somewhere in the middle, hovering around $19 for a Basic Driver Improvement course, to around $65 for the 12-hour Advanced Driver Improvement course.
WEBSITE SAFETY
We visited a lot of traffic school websites with really sketchy names, and even sketchier websites. We've checked all of the sites we've recommended with Google's Transparency Report.
REVIEWS
We narrowed our recommendations to online drivers ed programs that are highly popular on the web (as evidenced by number of users) and have at least 90% positive reviews on customer feedback websites that have at least 1,000 reviews from customers of the drivers ed company, and where applicable, top ratings with the Better Business Bureau.
- IDriveSafely - IDriveSafely offers an approved Basic Driver Improvement class in Florida and has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, along with a 4.5 star rating on Trustpilot.
- Safe2Drive - It has a 97% positive rating with over 1,000 reviews on LiveChat and is Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating. Their Florida Basic Driver Improvement course is highly recommended.
- Aceable - Aceable is approved to provide the Basic Driver Improvement course in Florida. It's been rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, has a 4.9 star rating on Trustpilot.
- Florida Fun Online Traffic School - Better Business Bureau accredited with an A rating. It has 4.6 out of 5 stars on Shopper Approved.
- IMPROVLearning - It has an A+ rating and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau. It also has 4.7 out of 5 stars with over 180,000 ratings on Shopper Approved.
- DriveSafe.com - DriveSafe.com is approved to provide instruction for the Basic Driver Improvement course for Florida. It has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and flies under the aegis of the National Safety Council, giving it a stamp of approval that none of the other driving schools can offer.
- ADISchool.com - ADISChool.com is operated by the American Safety Council, and is approved to offer the Advanced Driver Improvement course in Florida. It has a B+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a 4 out of 5-star rating in Facebook reviews.
- FedSafe.com - Florida Educational Driving School's FedSafe.com is approved to provide the Advanced Driver Improvement course. It has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating in Facebook reviews.
- National Traffic Safety Institute - NTSI.com is approved for the Advanced Driver Improvement course in Florida. It has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and a 4 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot.
- Driver Training Associates (TicketSchool.com) - Approved by the state of Florida for Advanced Driver Improvement courses and Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating.
- Traffic School Online - Approved by the state of Florida for Advanced Driver Improvement courses. It is Better Business Bureau accredited with an A+ rating and has over 4,500 reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.
Read more on the Best Online Traffic Schools in the industry here.
Golden Wrench Winners for Best Online Drivers Ed and Traffic Schools
IMPROVLearning is a great program geared towards keeping the student engaged in the materials. Classes are a mixture of text, audio and video and hold the attention of the user using comedy whenever possible. The site is user-friendly and engaging.
Safe2Drive is a highly rated program featuring nationwide course offerings. The company maintains excellent reviews and ratings and is known for very responsive, 24 hour customer service.
Aceable is not only an excellent program in terms of content, it is incredibly user-friendly and engaging. Classes are available on any device, have accessible audio and video and manage to make the subject matter interesting and fun. The site itself is easy to use and intuitive.
This solid program is less flashy than others in the industry, but is a good choice in terms of content. The site is easy to use and self explanatory. The program tracks your progress and helps you along with prompt questions throughout.
This program is filled with all the information you need to pass the tests. The site is a little slow and simple compared to others in the industry. This content is timed, and users are expected to get through the material at a set pace. An audio option is available for a price.
This program is the basic offering in terms of frills. IDriveSafely has all the information you need, and no extras or distractions. The user-experience is very basic, but the content is complete.
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