Getting Your Florida Driver's License Reinstated

Your driver's license can be suspended in Florida for a number of reasons, from not paying fines to accumulating too many points to being delinquent in child support. For the offenses that involve late or no payment, you will have to pay the amount of the fine or missed payments, plus a penalty in most cases, and fill out forms to get your Florida driver's license reinstated. Other reasons for suspension can get more involved.

If your license was suspended due to too many points

You accumulate points on your license for committing traffic offenses. The state of Florida assigns different point totals for different violations; you can see a summary of them at the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles' website: https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/education-courses/dui-and-iid/teens-young-adults-duis/

  • If you earn 12 points in 12 months, you will receive a 30-day suspension.
  • If you earn 18 points in 18 months, you will receive a 3-month suspension.
  • If you earn 24 points in 24 months, you will receive a 12-month suspension.

If your license is suspended, you can apply for a hardship license, which will allow you to drive in a limited manner, such as to and from work and other essential destinations. To request a hardship license, you will need to take a required exam, submit your enrollment in an Advanced Driver Improvement (ADI) course, and pay a suspension reinstatement fee and any other applicable license fees. You do not have to complete the ADI class before requesting a hardship license; you only need to submit a certificate provided by the school that you have enrolled in the class. All of this will need to be completed at your nearest Florida Bureau of Administrative Review, which can be found here: https://www.flhsmv.gov/resources/forms/

Once your suspension time has expired, you can request a full license reinstatement at the same Bureau of Administrative Review.

If your license was suspended for being a Habitual Traffic Offender (HTO)

The state of Florida keeps track of driving offenses and labels drivers as Habitual Traffic Offenders if they commit a total of three offenses from the list below within a five-year period:

  • Driving Under the Influence (DUI)
  • Driving While License Suspended or Revoked (DWLSR)
  • Vehicular manslaughter, voluntary or involuntary
  • Any felony in which a motor vehicle was used
  • Failing to stop as required under law following a crash that resulted in the death or personal injury of someone (hit and run)
  • Driving a commercial vehicle while the privilege is disqualified

A driver may also be labeled as an HTO for accruing 15 moving violations for which points are assigned in a five-year period.

If you are labeled as an HTO, your driver's license will be suspended for five years. You also cannot get a hardship license until one year has passed from the date of your license suspension. To request a hardship license after that first year, you will need to take a required exam, submit your enrollment in an Advanced Driver Improvement (ADI) course, and pay a suspension reinstatement fee and any other applicable license fees. You do not have to complete the ADI class before requesting a hardship license; you only need to submit a certificate provided by the school that you have enrolled in the class. All of this will need to be completed at your nearest Florida Bureau of Administrative Review, which can be found here: https://www.flhsmv.gov/resources/forms/

Once the five-year suspension period has passed, you will need to contact the Bureau of Administrative Review office again to petition for full reinstatement of your license. This will not happen automatically after the suspension period ends.