Florida Graduated Driver Licensing

On July 1, 1996, Florida established the Graduated Licensing System. The program gives young drivers more time to learn all the complex skills needed to drive a vehicle. The program consists of three stages beginning with the Learner’s License. Young drivers are required to demonstrate responsible driving behaviors in each stage of licensing before advancing to the next.

Learner’s License Privileges and Requirements

Drivers must always have a licensed driver 21 years of age or older in the closest seat to the right of the driver. For the first three months after receiving a Learner’s License, driving is limited to daylight hours only. After three months, hours are extended to 10 pm.

From Learner’s License to Operator’s License
To earn an Operator’s License, teens must be at least 16 years old AND have held a learner’s license for at least one year without any traffic convictions.

Required documents

A Florida Learner’s License or a license from another jurisdiction. Parent or guardian certification that applicant has at least 50 hours of behind the wheel driving experience, of which 10 hours must be at night.

Testing
Applicants must pass a driving test and perform certain driving maneuvers, or present a waiver from an accepted driver education course. They must also pass a hearing test and a vision test indicating 20/40 (or better) vision in each and both eyes, with or without corrective lenses.

Please refer to the Florida Driver Handbook for specifics

Privileges and Responsibilities

Once teens obtain an Operator’s License their driving privileges are based on their age.

16 years old

Driving allowed between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. All other times must be accompanied by a licensed driver at least 21 years old occupying the closest seat to the right of the driver, or be traveling to or from work.

17 years old

Driving allowed between 5 a.m. and 1 a.m. All other times must be accompanied by a licensed driver at least 21 years old occupying the closest seat to the right of the driver, or be traveling to or from work.

18 years old

Driving allowed at all hours of the day without a licensed passenger requirement.

What is Florida Graduated Driver Licensing?

What is Florida GDL? Florida Graduated Driver Licensing is a system for phasing in on-road driving, allowing beginners to get their initial experience under conditions that involve lower risk and introducing them in stages to more complex driving situations.

Take some time to watch the Young Drivers video here. See if your teen likes this video. If they do, they will love our Florida graduated driver licensing program.

We begin with combining the in-class with the behind-the-wheel training process concurrent with one another. Then we add more hours behind-the-wheel to give the new drivers an opportunity to experience all four seasons and weather conditions under a controlled risk factor. We take away the 6 hour driver training clock and base achievement and graduation on performance, skill and experience.

Remember when we were trying to teach our new teenagers as if we were traveling on a two-lane dirt road at 35 MPH, when our average traveled speed in Florida exceeds 55 MPH on a six-lane highway? Most families had a single vehicle in the fifties and sixties, and then to two vehicles in the seventies. The days of driving on weekends with mom and dad for the first year or two is over. In today’s hectic schedules, we are not allowing ourselves time to protect our Florida teens and teach them to drive as we should be. Parents need to realize that as the times change we must keep pace with that change.

Our driving generation, 35 to 50 years old, will be remembered as the worse driving generation in the history of the vehicle. We average 40,000 fatalities per year. Our generation needs to change the way we think and teach Florida graduated driver licensing.

If you look closely, you'll realize we spend about 12 years on basic education, reading writing, math, history and physical education…and only 6 hours behind the wheel training in a vehicle.

We need to be remembered as the generation that created the best Florida drivers in history. The generation that did something about the way we think and teach driver training. We need help from every mom and dad to complete this goal. We need to invest our time in our teenagers and take the time needed to teach our children to drive better.

This could mean as much as 1 or two years of guidance. And to do this you will need the very best Florida curriculum and training videos available. You will need to allow Florida graduated driver licensing to become part of your families dinner conversation and sharing experiences on new intersections, changes on the interstate on ramps or maybe a lost of a fellow student friend.

Florida Driver education and training is no longer a project to hire out to the local driving school. Parents need to get involved and stay involved for at least two or three years. Placing driving restrictions and hours on when a new driver is allowed to drive and with whom. This, in essence, is Florida Graduated Driver Licensing.