Stay in School to Keep Learners Permit

Teens under 18 that skip school can have their learners permit or drivers license suspended.

A Florida teen under the age of 18 cannot miss more than 15 days of school with unexcused absences within a 90 day period or their learners permit or drivers license or driving privilege will be suspended indefinitely.

Before You Even Get Your Learners Permit

Your attendance in School in Florida effects your driving privilege starting at age 14. This means that even before you get your learners permit in Florida, if you fail to attend school 15 times in 90 days and it's unexcused you can't get your learners permit until you meet attendance requirements.

Getting Your Suspended License Back

Now that you know how you can lose your license for not going to school, here is how you get it back

1. Attend School for 30 days in a row with no unexcused absences
2. Turn 18 - once you are 18 the Florida School Attendance requirement no longer applies

If you lost your driving privilege before you even had your license, the same rules apply

To get your Florida drivers license, learners permit, or driving privilege back, Go to School for 30 days with no unexcused absences and your High School attendance office will complete a License Reinstatement Form and send it to the Florida DMV in Tallahassee.

Drivers License Suspensions for Poor Attendance

In the 2006 - 2007 Florida school year 9,234 students lost their driving privilege because they did not attend school. This applies to learners permits and drivers licenses. Connecting school attendance to driving privileges for teens may be having the desired effect. The number of repeat suspensions over the last seven years is consistently around 5 percent. ñ 499 in the 2006 ñ 2007 school year.

This suggests that teen drivers who lost their Florida learners permit or drivers license for lack of attendance maintained acceptable attendance 95 percent of the time after their first suspension. The data has not been studied to determine if other factors influenced these results.

Truant Teens Get No License

Truancy in Florida also prevents a teen from applying for their learner permit or drivers license. Students under 18 that do not have a learners permit or drivers license and are not meeting attendance requirements will receive a letter from the DMV indicating they cannot get their license until they meet school attendance requirements.

Drop Outs are Walking

Florida Teens who drop out of school have their driving privilege suspended until they are 18.

History and Statistics of Connecting School Attendance to Driving

The State of Florida sent out the first letters suspending teen driving privileges on February 16, 1999. Since then the DMV has sent letters to 353,580 Florida teens.

The majority of those teenagers (262,948) were non-licensed minors meaning that based on their age they were eligible to drive but did not have a learner permit or drivers license. And because of poor school attendance would not be permitted to get any drivers license until they started attending school.

Below are the Number of Suspension Orders issued to Licensed Florida Teen Drivers since 2000. This data is tracked by the Florida DMV in cooperation with the Florida Department of Education.