How to Get a Florida Driving Record
It doesn’t matter if you’re a new driver or an experienced race car fanatic in Florida, there will be a time when you need to know what’s on your driving record. You may already know that your driving record plays a large role in determining your car insurance costs, but you might not know that your driving record can keep you from getting and keeping certain jobs. In this post, we’ll take a look at the basics of finding and obtaining your Florida driving record, as well as why it’s important to see what’s on it.
Why to Check Your Record in Florida?
There are several reasons why you might want to check your driving record in Florida. In some cases, your record will be used to determine the price you pay for certain services, and in others, you may be required to have a clean driving record to work in certain environments.
Your driving record plays a large role in determining the price you’ll end up paying for auto insurance. If you want to get the best price on car insurance, shop around, but it pays to know where you stand with your driving record.
Many jobs require a clean driving record. This includes professions that involve heavy machinery and driving large trucks, law enforcement, personal transport jobs like taxi drivers, and more.
You may also want to check your driving record for errors. Just like credit reports, there are sometimes omissions or incorrect information on driving records. You want to clear these up because these records are very important to your finances and ability to get jobs.
How to Order a Driving Record in Florida
Obtaining the status of a driver license in Florida is free, and can be done online or in person at a driver license service center. If a three-year or seven-year complete driving record is required, it may be ordered from a driver license service center, or through a court clerk or private vendor.
Drivers may also purchase a copy of their record by mail, and must complete a driver license record request form. Ordering a copy of a driving record by mail involves a fee. Florida notes that the personal information contained within driving records is protected by its Driver Privacy Protection Act. In order to obtain a copy of another person’s driving record, you must have that person’s name, date of birth, social security number, and Florida license number.
Types of Driving Records in Florida
Florida drivers can order three types of complete driving records:
- 3 Year
- 7 Year
- Complete
Both the three- and seven-year driving records are available to drivers upon request and contain:
- License and ID card issuances, as well as any exams or courses passed.
- Any traffic violations where the driver was found guilty, within the three or seven year period.
- Any crashes where a citation was issued as a result of the accident.
- All open suspensions, revocations, cancellations, or disqualifications of driving privileges.
The Complete driving record displays additional information, which includes department-approved correspondence and records relating to an incomplete attempt at a driving course or ineligibility to take a driving course.
How Much Does A Florida Driving Record Cost
Ordering a driver history record in Florida requires the payment of a record fee to the state. The three-year record costs $8 and the seven-year/complete records each cost $10. An individual crash report costs $10.
How and When to Correct Errors on Your Florida Driving Record
If, upon checking your driving record, you discover errors, you must contact the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Customer Service Center at (850) 617-2000. The center will investigate the record and correct issues, if they exist, as quickly as possible.
Popular Online Traffic Schools
Florida accepts online driving schools, either as part of a court-ordered improvement program or as part of an effort to improve a driving record.
The state maintains a list of approved providers, many of which offer both online and in-person instruction. The list includes:
- Safe2Drive
- American Safety Council
- Traffic Safety Consultants
- U-Drive Safe
- Wise Traffic School
Read more on the 5 Best Online Traffic Schools in Florida here.
Read more on Driver's Education Courses 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.
