Florida License Suspension Rules

points

Source: Florida Driver License Handbook (rev. 08/2023), Chapter 3: Your Driving Privilege, p. 29 (Point System) · Verified Aug 2026

12

Source: Florida Driver License Handbook (rev. 08/2023), Chapter 3: Your Driving Privilege, p. 29 (Point System) · Verified Aug 2026

12

Source: Florida Driver License Handbook (rev. 08/2023), Chapter 3: Your Driving Privilege, p. 29 (Point System) · Verified Aug 2026

A DUI in Florida is not routed through the point system; it triggers a direct administrative license revocation of at least 180 days on a first offense, with longer revocations on subsequent offenses. Refusing a chemical test carries its own penalties independent of any DUI conviction: a one-year suspension and a second-degree misdemeanor on a first refusal, and an 18-month suspension and a first-degree misdemeanor on a second. Additional consequences include DUI School, a mandatory addiction evaluation, and an ignition interlock device, which the court may order on a first conviction and which is mandatory for at least six continuous months when the breath or blood alcohol level was .15 or higher or a minor was in the vehicle.

Source: Florida Driver License Handbook (rev. 08/2023), Chapter 3: Your Driving Privilege, pp. 25-26, for the revocation, DUI School, evaluation and interlock rules. The refusal penalties are taken from ss. 316.1932 and 316.1939, Florida Statutes, as amended by HB 687 (ch. 2025-121) effective October 1, 2025, which made a first refusal criminal; the handbook predates that change. · Verified Aug 2026

A single reckless-driving conviction adds four points to your driving record, so one conviction on its own is well below the 12-point, 12-month suspension threshold. However, three reckless-driving convictions within one year is a stand-alone ground for license revocation regardless of point totals. Forfeiting bail rather than appearing in court on a reckless charge counts the same as a conviction.

Source: Florida Driver License Handbook (rev. 08/2023), Chapter 3: Your Driving Privilege, pp. 29-31 (Point System, Common Violations, Revocations) · Verified Aug 2026

Ordinary speeding runs on points and on a fine ladder. Exceeding the posted limit by 15 mph or less adds three points, by 16 mph or more adds four, and speeding that causes a crash adds six. Points accumulate against escalating tiers: 12 points in 12 months brings a 30-day suspension, 18 in 18 months a three-month suspension, and 24 in 36 months a one-year suspension. On that ordinary ladder the fine doubles in a school zone, and doubles in a construction zone when workers are present or equipment is operating on or immediately beside the road and the doubled-fine notice is posted. Speeding 50 mph or more over the limit leaves that fine ladder entirely. It carries its own civil penalty instead of the ordinary fine, not on top of it: $1,000 for a first citation, $2,500 and a one-year revocation for a second, and for a third a third-degree felony with a $5,000 fine and a ten-year revocation. The zone-doubling provisions double the ordinary ladder, so they do not compound with these. Points still apply throughout; what changes is the fine and the criminal exposure. Since July 1, 2025 the same conduct is also a crime in its own right. Dangerous excessive speeding covers driving 50 mph or more over the limit, or 100 mph or more in a way that threatens people or property or interferes with another vehicle: up to 30 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both on a first conviction; up to 90 days, a $1,000 fine, or both on a second; and a repeat within five years revokes your license for at least 180 days and up to a year. One more hard line sits below all of that. Exceeding the limit by 30 mph or more, and exactly 30 over already counts, means you cannot elect the Basic Driver Improvement course in place of points and you must appear in court.

Source: Point values and suspension tiers: Florida Driver License Handbook (rev. 08/2023), Chapter 3, pp. 28-30, matching s. 322.27(3). The civil ladder for a s. 316.1926(2) citation is s. 318.14(13): (a) $1,000 on a first, (b) $2,500 plus a one-year revocation on a second, and (c) a third is "a felony of the third degree" with a $5,000 fine and a ten-year revocation. Note that this is a fine in place of the s. 318.18(3)(b) ladder, not an exemption from points; the underlying unlawful-speed conviction still carries its s. 322.27(3)(d)5. points. Dangerous excessive speeding: s. 316.1922, created by HB 351 (ch. 2025-77) effective July 1, 2025, which the handbook predates. Construction-zone doubling and its conditions: s. 318.18(3)(e). The Basic Driver Improvement exclusion is s. 318.14(9), "30 miles per hour or more", and s. 318.19(5) makes the same threshold a mandatory court appearance. · Verified Aug 2026