Florida’s Basic Driver Improvement course, known as BDI, is a four-hour traffic safety class you can elect to take instead of simply paying a ticket for a non-criminal moving violation. Completing it keeps points off your driving record, reduces your civil penalty by 18 percent, and blocks your insurer from raising your rates because of the ticket.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures You get up to eight of these elections in a lifetime, and no more than one in any twelve-month period.
Who Can Elect the Course
Florida Statute 318.14(9) sets the rules. You qualify if you hold a regular, non-commercial Florida driver’s license and you were driving a non-commercial vehicle when you got the ticket.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures The violation has to be a non-criminal infraction that would otherwise put points on your record.2Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Driver Improvement Courses FAQ
Two caps limit how often you can use it. You cannot elect BDI if you already used the election in the previous twelve months, and you cannot exceed eight elections in your lifetime.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures
Drivers who hold a commercial driver’s license or a commercial learner’s permit are excluded from the election, even when the ticket was issued while they were driving their personal car.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures The exclusion follows the driver, not the vehicle.
Tickets That Don’t Qualify
Some infractions require a mandatory court appearance under Florida Statute 318.19 and cannot be resolved through BDI or by simply paying the fine. These include:
- Speeding 30 mph or more over the posted limit.
- Any infraction tied to a crash that caused death or serious bodily injury.
- Passing a stopped school bus displaying a stop signal.
- Unsecured-load violations that cause injury or property damage.
If your ticket falls into one of these categories, you are headed to a hearing regardless of your driving history.3The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 318.19 – Infractions Requiring a Mandatory Hearing
How to Elect BDI Within 30 Days
You have 30 days from the date printed on your citation to notify the clerk of court in the county where you received the ticket. Miss that window and you face additional fines and a license suspension.4Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Traffic Citations The back of the citation usually has a checkbox for the school election along with the clerk’s address.
Most clerks accept the election online, which is the fastest route. You can also mail the signed citation or go to the courthouse in person. When you file, you pay the civil penalty plus county court costs, and the clerk applies the 18 percent reduction to the penalty automatically.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures Court costs vary by county, so check your local clerk’s website for the exact total.
Finishing the Course on Time
After the clerk processes your election and payment, you enroll in a state-approved four-hour BDI course. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles keeps a searchable list of approved providers, and you can take the course online or in a classroom from any approved school in the state, regardless of which county wrote the ticket.5Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Basic Driver Improvement (BDI)
The deadline to complete the course and deliver the certificate to the clerk typically runs 60 to 90 days from the citation date, depending on the county.2Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Driver Improvement Courses FAQ The clock starts on the ticket date, not the day you elected. Wait three weeks to file and you have already burned part of your completion window. Call the clerk early to confirm the exact deadline on your case.
Many schools transmit your certificate electronically, but you are still the one responsible for making sure it reaches the clerk. Confirm with the clerk’s office that your case is closed before you stop worrying about it.
What Completion Gets You
Once the clerk records your completion, the court withholds adjudication. You are not convicted of the infraction, and no points go on your driving record.1Florida Senate. Florida Code 318.14 – Noncriminal Traffic Infractions; Exception; Procedures The citation still appears on your record, but it carries no conviction and no points.
Insurance Rate Protection
Florida law bars insurers from raising your premium, canceling your policy, or refusing to renew because of a traffic infraction where adjudication was withheld and no points were assessed under the BDI election.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 626.9541 – Unfair Methods of Competition and Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices For many drivers, avoiding a single rate increase pays for the course and the fine several times over.
One exception: if the infraction involved a crash where your insurer paid a claim because you were at fault, the shield does not apply. Your insurer can still adjust your rates based on the at-fault accident.6The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 626.9541 – Unfair Methods of Competition and Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices
If You Miss the Completion Deadline
Electing BDI and then failing to finish, or failing to get the certificate to the clerk in time, triggers an indefinite suspension of your driver’s license.7Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Traffic Citations or Court Suspensions The suspension stays in place until you resolve the matter with the court.
To clear it, contact the traffic court in the county that issued the citation and handle whatever is outstanding, which may mean completing the course late, paying additional fees, or both. After the court clears you, it notifies the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles electronically, and you pay a $60 reinstatement fee at any Florida driver license service center or by phone.8Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Fees A traffic-citation suspension does not qualify for a hardship license, so you cannot legally drive at all while it is active.7Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Traffic Citations or Court Suspensions
Mandatory BDI Is a Different Animal
Florida also requires certain drivers to take BDI whether they want to or not. The mandatory requirement applies to drivers found at fault in a crash where someone was taken to the hospital, drivers with two at-fault property-damage crashes within two years that each caused more than $500 in damage, and drivers convicted of specific serious violations including passing a stopped school bus, racing on a highway, spectating at highway racing, reckless driving, and running a red light.
When the course is mandatory, it is an added requirement on top of whatever the court imposes. You do not get a withheld adjudication, and the points still land on your record.5Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) The classroom hours look the same; the legal outcome does not.