Living With Florida License Points: Values, Limits and Reinstatement

Start here: what your tickets are worth

Section 322.27 grades offenses. A typical moving violation with no crash is 3 points, and the more dangerous ones jump to 4 or 6. If your offense is not listed below, FLHSMV's Appendix C has every code.

Camera tickets are the exception. No points come from a red light camera ticket processed by a traffic infraction enforcement officer, or from tickets generated by school zone speed cameras or school bus cameras, and insurers may not use those tickets to set your rates.

• 3 points: speeding no more than 15 mph above the limit
• 4 points: speeding 16 mph or more above the limit
• 4 points: an officer-written red light ticket
• 4 points: illegally passing a stopped school bus (6 if someone is seriously hurt or killed)
• 4 points: reckless driving
• 4 points: a moving violation that leads to a crash
• 6 points: a crash caused by unlawful speed or handheld device use
• 6 points: leaving the scene of a crash with over $50 in damage
• 6 points: going through a railroad crossing illegally
• 2 points on top: using a handheld phone inside a school safety zone
• 3 points: any other moving violation

Watch the totals: when FLHSMV can suspend

FLHSMV places each conviction on its timeline using the date the offense happened. At 12 inside 12 months it may suspend you for as long as 30 days. At 18 inside 18 months the ceiling is 3 months, and at 24 inside 36 months it is a full year. Points that already triggered one suspension still count toward the next threshold.

A different rule, section 322.264, applies to habitual traffic offenders. You earn that label with 15 convictions for moving violations that carry points inside 5 years, or with 3 serious ones (DUI and driving on a suspended license are examples). The result is a 5-year revocation.

Example: a driver collects a 4-point speeding ticket in March, a 4-point red light ticket in July and a 4-point reckless driving conviction the following January. All three offenses fall within 12 months, so FLHSMV could take the license for as long as 30 days.

How long you live with them

According to FLHSMV, points stay on your driver record for 5 years or longer from the conviction date. For suspension math, a point drops out once it is older than the relevant window, yet the conviction can still show up when an insurer or employer pulls a longer history.

Section 322.27 builds in one reduction. If your only point suspension so far was the first, you get 3 points taken off when you reinstate, provided all other conditions are met.

Why no class takes them back off

The BDI benefit lives at the ticket stage. Elect school within 30 days and the points are never assessed, but Florida has no program that strips points from a ticket you already paid. Out-of-state tickets are no different: FLHSMV says Florida courses cannot touch those points either.

Courses still come up after a conviction, just not as an eraser. Some convictions oblige you to finish BDI within 90 days or lose the license, and a point suspension cannot be lifted without the 12-hour ADI course. Neither subtracts a single point.

If your driver is 15, 16 or 17

Teens aged 15 through 17 face a tighter rule in section 322.161. Six points inside 12 months, excluding parking tickets, restricts the license to business purposes for a year or more, and every added point extends that by 90 days. With nothing else in the way, it ends at 18.

A moving violation conviction during the learner year can also delay the Class E. The escape hatch is electing school so the court withholds adjudication.

If you have already been suspended: getting back on the road

FLHSMV's points page describes two routes. During the suspension, a local Administrative Reviews office can grant a hardship license for driving to work or for business, once you prove ADI is complete and pay to reinstate. After the suspension runs out, any service center can fully reinstate you when you show you are enrolled in ADI and pay the fee.

The department's reinstatement charge in section 322.21 (October 2026) is $45 following a suspension and $75 following a revocation, and any license fee comes on top. Living out of state? Send the paperwork and the money by mail to Tallahassee, to FLHSMV's Bureau of Motorist Compliance.