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If you lost your driving privileges, Florida’s suspended license laws provide you with different options for both fighting the ticket and reinstating your license.

Read this article to learn more about how your license may be suspended in Florida, what you need to do to get it back, and everything in between.

How to check if my license is suspended in Florida

You can check if your driver’s license is suspended in the Sunshine State by going to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’s website.

Click here for their driver license check tool.

While you do so, make sure that you have the following on-hand:

• Your driver’s license number
• Your social security number or insurance policy number

After that, you will know whether your license is suspended or not. You can also view your driving history and any tickets or violations that are on your record.

Why would a license become suspended in Florida?

In Florida, your license could get suspended for several reasons. Here are some common ones:

• Non-compliance with police officers or not responding to a traffic summons. To clarify, a traffic summons is a court document that asks you to appear in court and/or respond to the charges against you. You shouldn’t ignore a traffic summons because, as mentioned earlier, your license will get suspended if you do so.
• Not paying fines, such as traffic and parking tickets. You want to make sure that your fines are paid on time. Otherwise, in addition to covering the traffic or parking ticket cost, you might also have to pay a fee to have your license reinstated.
• Violating a court order that requires you to complete driving classes.
• Being deemed as incapable of operating a car. This happens if you start to suffer from vision loss, for instance.
• When you accumulate too many points. In Florida, each violation would cost you points. When a driver reaches a certain number, their license gets suspended.
• Committing a traffic violation that seriously injures or kills another person. Reckless driving is an example.
• Using a fake or fraudulent license.
• Failing to pay child support.

The process of reinstating your license is based on the reason for its suspension. For example, a person with bad vision can get their license reinstated much more easily than a reckless driver who injured or killed someone.

What is a license reinstatement?

A reinstatement means that you regain your driving privileges after your license was suspended. There are several ways to do this. The appropriate approach depends on the violation that you committed and other personal circumstances.

If you choose not to take any action, your license will be automatically reinstated after a probationary period passes.

How do I reinstate my license in Florida?

To have your license reinstated, you need to complete one or more of the following steps:

Pay fees

Some fees are general and apply to all license reinstatements, but others are specific to the type of violation that was committed. Here are a few of them:

• Standard reinstatement fee: $45
• Unpaid traffic tickets: $60
• Child support delinquency: $60
• Failure to own car insurance (as a first offense): $150
• Alcohol or drug related fees: $130

Go to traffic school

Also known as driver improvement courses, this optional approach reduces your fees and points by 18%. However, to enjoy this discount, you must enroll in these courses within 30 days after getting your ticket.

Take a drug and alcohol course

Certain DUI offenders need to complete courses at a designated DUI school, including in the following cases:

• Violators who get 2 DUIs within 5 years or 3 DUIs within 10 years.
• First-time DUI offenders who are convicted of manslaughter.
• Reckless driving that’s caused by the driver’s alcohol or substance use.

Drug and alcohol course requirements usually accompany other penalties, such as fines and jail sentences.

Take court-ordered community service hours

In some situations, reinstating a suspended license in Florida entails undergoing community service. If your license was suspended, the court will send you a Notice of Suspension letter.

Review this document to find out whether you need to participate in community service and, if so, for how many hours.

Complete jail time

In Florida, the punishment for certain traffic offenses includes jail time. DUIs and serious reckless driving violations are amongst them. Jail sentences can range from 48 hours and up to several years.

If you were sentenced to jail for a traffic violation, you should wait until you conclude your sentence before applying to have your license reinstated. Similarly, you must satisfy other court-ordered obligations.

Complete a probation period

Based on your case, you may have to wait-out a probation period, which varies from one offense to another. For instance, a first-time DUI offenders’ probation could last for up to 1 year.

Review your documents to find out if the court is requiring you to complete a probation period. Once that timeline is over, you may request a license reinstatement.

How long does it take to reinstate a suspended license in Florida?

After you pay your fines and/or fees, serve your jail sentence (if applicable), conclude your probationary period, and honor any other court-ordered stipulations, your suspended license will be reinstated within 5 to 11 days.

The length of your wait time is largely based on the court you go through. Florida residents would submit their reinstatement request in the county that they live in.

County courts that receive a high volume of traffic-related paperwork may take a longer time to complete your request. 

Out-of-state residents have to mail their fee/fine payments and other documents that prove that they have met all of the court’s requirements to the Bureau of Motorist Compliance. After that, their license will be reinstated within 10 days.

Use the WinIt app to fight your tickets in Florida

The best way to enjoy your driving privileges is to not have your license suspended, in the first place. WinIt’s network of highly-experienced and low-cost attorneys can help you fight your ticket in court.

Not only will this prevent a license suspension, but a successful challenge could free you of any monetary and non-monetary penalties. You also save a lot on insurance!

Even if your license is already suspended, WinIt’s partners can certainly work with you on reinstating it, alongside removing other obligations and sentences.

The process is very simple, too. First, take a picture of your ticket and the related documents. If you don’t have them, enter your license plate number and the WinIt app will locate your information for you.

Next, experienced lawyers review your case. Once you choose an attorney that suits your budget and needs, they will dispute the ticket in court and/or put together your reinstatement documents.

Above all, you only have to pay them if they successfully win in court or reinstate your license. Even then, the fee is typically 50% the ticket amount.

Having a suspended license, in of itself, is very stressful. With WinIt, you can sit back and allow one of our lawyers to handle everything for you.

Click here to start the process of reinstating your license so that you can get back on the road as quickly as possible.