In the state of Florida, if you receive a traffic citation you may chose, or elect, to attend a BDI Course to keep traffic citation points from being added to your driving record. Also, completing a BDI Course will prevent your auto insurance company from raising your insurance rates based on a traffic citation unless you were involved in a crash where you were at fault.
Absolutely not. Wise Traffic School will issue a same day certificate if you complete your course by 9:00 PM. YOU NEVER NEED TO PAY A SAME DAY CERTIFICATE FEE. If you complete the course after our 9:00 PM closing time, you will receive your certificate first thing the next morning. Of course, you may register for and work on your course 24 hours per day and 7 days per week.
Also, Wise Traffic School will electronically notify the Florida DHSMV of your course completion and, if you elected Traffic School (you were not Court Ordered to attend school), the Clerk of Court should receive confirmation of your course completion within several days from the DHSMV.
Florida statutes required an 18% fine reduction when traffic school is elected. However, this reduction is only calculated on the FINE portion of the ticket and does not include the other fees and assessments are included in your citation payment but are not considered part of the fine. These other fees and assessments amount to about $100 in most counties.
Note: Most counties charge a School Election Fee of $7.00 which reduces the effective amount of the fine reduction for received for traffic school.
| Traffic Violation | Fine Amounts | 18% Fine Reduction |
|---|---|---|
| Speeding 6-9 MPH Over | $25.00 | $4.50 |
| Speeding 10-14 MPH Over | $100.00 | $18.00 |
| Speeding 15-19 MPH Over | $150.00 | $27.00 |
| Speeding 20-29 MPH Over | $175.00 | $31.50 |
| Running a Red Light | $158.00 | $28.44 |
| Passing a Stopped School Bus | $165.00 | $29.70 |
| Violating the Move Over Law | $30.00 | $5.40 |
| All Other Moving Violations (Failure to Stop at Stop Sign, Improper Passing, Failure to Yield, Careless Driving, Improper Turn, Failure to Use Turn Signal, etc.) |
$60.00 | $10.80 |
When you pay your ticket, you must inform the Clerk of Court, in the county where you received your citation, that you are ELECTING the Traffic School Option. If you pay the ticket without making a traffic school ELECTION, you are considered guilty of the ticket and you will no longer be able to elect traffic school.
To see if you are eligible to attend a BDI Course, please visit the Florida DHSMV's Driver License Check web site and enter your driver license number with no dashes.
A driver is not eligible to attend a BDI Course if the driver:
For most traffic citations, a driver is not required to attend a BDI Course. However, if you have received a citation for Running a Red Light, Passing a Stopped School Bus, Reckless Driving, or Racing, completing a BDI Course is mandatory.
Even though you are not required to attend a BDI Course for most citations, attending a BDI Course will keep traffic citation points from being added to your driving record. Also, completing a BDI Course will prevent your auto insurance company from raising your insurance rates based on a traffic citation unless you were at fault in a crash.
Once you complete the Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) Course and pass the final exam, Wise Traffic School will post your Course Completion Certificate on our website. Simply reenter our website with your last name and course code. Your Course Completion Certificate will appear on the screen, and you will be able to print it. Also, we will send you an email with your Completion Certificate attached.
There is no additional fee to receive a same day (if class completed before 9PM) Course Completion Certificate. Many schools charge additional fees for mailing or processing. At Wise Traffic School, we do not. If you complete the course during normal working hours, your Course Completion Certificate should be posted within several hours. If you complete the course after hours, your Course Completion Certificate should be posted the next morning.
Also, and very important, Wise Traffic School will notify the Florida DHSMV that you have completed your BDI course. If you have received your Completion Certificate, the Florida DHSMV has already been notified. If you were NOT Court Ordered to attend a BDI Course, a day or two after we notify the Florida DHSMV, the county where you received your citation should receive notification from the DHSMV of your BDI Course Completion. You should use the Florida E-Filing Portal webpage and enter your citation number to confirm that your Course Completion Certificate has been received by the Clerk of Court.
If you voluntarily ELECTED the traffic school option when you paid your citation, Wise Traffic School will notify the Florida DHSMV of your course completion. You can use the Florida DHSMV's Traffic School Completion Check website to verify that Wise Traffic School notified the DHSMV.
The DHSMV will then issue a Certificate ID number and our company will include that Certificate ID number on your Course Completion Certificate. Once we notify the DHSMV, the Clerks of Court Association has established a system to notify the Clerk of Court in the county where your citation was issued, and where you elected traffic school, of your course completion. If you elected traffic school, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to ensure your Course Completion Certificate has been received by the Clerk of Court. You should use the Florida E-Filing Portal webpage and enter your citation number to confirm that your Course Completion Certificate has been received by the Clerk of Court.
You MUST FORWARD YOUR COURSE COMPLETION CERTIFICATE TO THE CLERK OF COURT in the county where your citation was issued. The automatic system for notifying the Clerk of Court DOES NOT FUNCTION in the case of a Court Ordered BDI Course Completion.
Wise Traffic School will notify the Florida DHSMV of your BDI Course completion. You may go to the Florida DHSMV's Traffic School Completion Check website to verify your course completion has been received by the DHSMV.
If you ELECTED to attend a Basic Driver Improvement Course for a traffic ticket, please refer to the purple Course Completion Certificate tab at the bottom of this page for instructions.
If you were COURT-ORDERED to take a Basic Driver Improvement Course, you must turn in your Course Completion Certificate to the Clerk of Court in the county where you received your traffic citation.
If you were DIRECTED by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to complete a BDI Course for running a red light, passing a stopped school bus, reckless driving, highway racing, or being a spectator to highway racing, or if the DHSMV DIRECTED you to compete a Traffic Collision Avoidance Course (same as BDI course), Wise Traffic School will notify the DHSMV of your BDI Course completion.
Yes, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has approved Wise Traffic School as a provider for the Basic Driver Improvement Course and the Traffic Collision Avoidance Course.
If you do not attend a Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) Course, most traffic citations result in 3 or 4 points being added to your driving record. Points are awarded as follows:
If you receive 12 points in twelve months, your driver's license will be suspended. The period of suspension will depend on the number of points received and the number of months during which the points were assessed.
Your traffic fine must be paid within 30 days or an additional financial penalty will be assessed, and your driver license may be suspended. You must pay your traffic fine to the Clerk of Court in the county where you received your traffic citation.
If you plan to ELECT to attend a BDI Course, you must inform the Clerk of Court when you pay your traffic fine. If you do not elect to attend a BDI Course when you pay your traffic fine, you will be considered guilty of the offense and will not be eligible to attend a BDI Course.
Many counties permit you to use their websites to make an on-line citation payment, and most will permit you to select the Traffic School Option as part of this payment process. However, some do not permit a Traffic School Election when making an on-line payment. If you want to Elect Traffic School, do not make an in-line payment if you have not been able to select the Traffic School Option during the on-line payment process. If an on-line election is not possible, usually you will be able to print a Traffic School Affidavit/Option Form that you can fill out and mail, along with your payment, to the Clerk of Court. Some Clerks of Court require the Affidavit/Option Form to be notarized.
If you have already paid your traffic fine and did not elect to attend a BDI Course because you were not aware of this option, or you did not understand that you were required to Elect Traffic School when paying your citation, you may contact the Clerk of Court office or write a short letter to the traffic court judge/magistrate, in the county where you received your traffic citation, to request permission to attend a BDI Course. In this case, please do not take a BDI Course until you receive authorization from the Clerk of Court office of from the traffic court judge.
No, at Wise Traffic School, the STATED price is always the TOTAL price! Unlike many of our competitors, we never charge additional fees such as:
Examples of moving violations include speeding tickets, failure to stop for a red light or stop sign, failure to use turn signals, following too close and careless driving. Tickets for failing to wear seat belts, inoperative lights, and driving under the influence are not considered to be moving violations. If you have any questions about the type of citation you have received, please contact Wise Traffic School or the Clerk of Court in the county where you received your citation.
If you have requested a court hearing or hired a lawyer to contest your traffic citation, the judge/magistrate may decide to withhold adjudication on your traffic citation and court-order you to attend a four-hour BDI Course/DDS/DDC. Once you complete this course, points will not be added to your driving record for your traffic citation. Wise Traffic School's BDI Course will fulfill this BDI Course/DDS/DDC requirement. However, you must make certain that the court order requires a FOUR-HOUR BDI Course/DDS/DDC. Some Courts use the DDS or DDC nomenclature for the BDI Course. Since the Florida DHSMV uses the BDI Course nomenclature for the 4-hour course, Wise Traffic School also calls our course the BDI Course.
If you were Court Ordered to complete a BDI Course, you must turn in your Course Completion Certificate to the Clerk of Court. The automatic reporting system DOES NOT apply in the case of Court Ordered Courses.
Yes, the Wise Traffic School BDI Course will fulfill these mandatory, DHSMV-directed requirements. The BDI Course and the TCAC are the same courses.
You will be directed to attend a TCAC if you have been at fault in two traffic crashes in the past two years with property damage of over $500, or if you were at fault in a crash where someone died or had to be transported from the crash site to a hospital.
If you ELECT to attend a BDI Course when you pay your traffic fine, your ELECTION will also fulfill the MANDATORY DHSMV requirement to complete a TCAC or BDI Course.
In the state of Florida, you may ELECT to attend a BDI Course as long as you have not made an election in the past twelve months or more than five times in your lifetime. If you have made an election in the past, you will not be eligible to make an additional election until twelve months after your previous election date. Your previous election date is the date you paid your traffic fine and informed the Clerk of Court in the county where you received your traffic citation that you planned to attend a BDI Course.
If you have not yet paid your citation, you may use the Florida DHSMV's Driving School Eligibility Check website to determine if you are eligible to take Traffic School.
If you have previously been Court-Ordered to attend a BDI Course or directed by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to attend a BDI Course for running a red light, passing a stopped school bus, reckless driving, highway racing, or being a spectator to highway racing, that BDI Course completion does not count as one of the five BDI Course elections in your lifetime. Also, you may attend a BDI Course if you are court-ordered to do so or if you are directed by the DHSMV to do so even if you have previously made five elections in your lifetime.
In the state of Florida, you may NOT voluntarily ELECT to attend a BDI Course if you have a CDL, even if your traffic citation was in your personal vehicle. However, some drivers with CDL's have requested a court hearing/hired an attorney and have successfully petitioned the traffic court judge/magistrate to withhold adjudication (keeping points from being added to their driver record) on their traffic citation. In these cases, often the traffic judge/magistrate issues a Court Order requiring these CDL holders to attend a 4-hour BDI Course/Defensive Driving School/Defensive Driving Course. Wise Traffic School's BDI Course will fulfill these requirements.
No, if you were cited for driving 30, or more, miles per hour over the speed limit, you are NOT eligible to elect to attend a four-hour BDI Course.
Some auto insurance companies offer insurance premium reductions if their clients take a four-hour BDI Course that is approved by the state of Florida. Before taking our course to reduce your auto insurance fees, please contact your auto insurance company to find out if they offer a rate reduction for drivers who complete a BDI Course. Wise Traffic School's BDI Course is approved by the Florida DHSMV.
If you do not have a printer, there are several options you may use to ensure your Course Completion Certificate gets to the Clerk or Court or to print your Course Completion Certificate.
Wise Traffic School will electronically notify the Florida DHSMV of your course completion and, if you Elected Traffic School (you were not Court Ordered to attend school), the Clerk of Court should receive confirmation of your Course Completion within several days from the DHSMV. Several days after you complete your BDI Course, you may use the Florida E-Filing Portal webpage to verify that the Clerk of Court has received your Course Completion Certificate.
If you do not have a printer, you may ask someone with a printer to log into our website and enter your login information and your Course Completion Certificate will appear and can be printed. Also, we will send your Course Completion Certificate to you via email. You can forward this email to someone else who has a printer.
Driving is a privilege. Wise Traffic School has the courses and exams you need to earn your driving privilege.
Wise Traffic School offers the TLSAE Course and Knowledge Exam on-line. The TLSAE course includes 12 sections followed by a 40-question final exam. You may take this course in one sitting, or in many sittings, logging in and out, as you like. The great majority of our students pass the final exam on the first attempt. In the rare case that a student fails the final exam, the student can take a second exam. It that exam is not passed, students can retake the course for no additional charge. Wise Traffic School offers a read along version of this course. Please check out the read along sample offered in the Learner's License and First Time Driver section of our website.
The Florida Knowledge Exam is a 50-question exam that Wise Traffic School offers in an on-line format for those below 18 years of age. This is a one-hour exam and you must achieve a score of 80%. About 90% of our students pass this exam on the first attempt. While taking the on-line exam, students are required to be under the supervision of a parent or guardian.
Yes, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has approved Wise Traffic School as a provider for the TLSAE Course.
No, at Wise Traffic School, the STATED price is always the TOTAL price! Unlike many of our competitors, we never charge additional fees such as:
You may complete these prerequisites once you are 14½ years old.
This exam is based on information contained in the Florida Driver Handbook that you may link to from our website.
Wise Traffic School also offers 4 practice exams to help prepare students for the Florida Knowledge Exam.
Wise Traffic School will electronically notify the Florida DHSMV when you complete these requirements. Also, we will issue to you a same day Course Completion Certificate for the TLSAE Course. After you register for the Florida Knowledge Exam, Wise Traffic School will transfer you to the State of Florida website used to administer the exam, so when you complete the exam the State of Florida will be automatically informed.
Wise Traffic School has prepared an excellent Preparing for the Driving Skills Exam Course that both you and your parent/guardian can take to ensure you understand the driving skills that will be evaluated during your Driving Skills Exam. This behind the wheel exam is designed to evaluate your ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Our Preparing for the Driving Skills Test Course will get you ready.
If you are under 18 years of age, your parent/guardian/responsible official must verify that you have achieved at least 50 hours of driving experience with at least 10 hours at night while you hold your Learner's License. While you are accumulating your 50+ hours of driving experience, Wise Traffic School's Preparing for the Driving Skills Exam Course will make sure you are learning to correctly and safely operate a motor vehicle.
The Mature Driver Insurance Discount Course is a 6-hour course designed to refresh your knowledge of traffic laws and safe driving practices. According to Florida law, after a senior driver, age 55 years and older, completes this course, with a provider that is approved by the Florida DHSMV, and presents documentation of course completion, auto insurance companies must provide a 3-year premium reduction to insured senior drivers.
Yes, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has approved Wise Traffic School as a provider for the Mature Driver Insurance Discount Course.
This 6-hour course is offered on-line. The course is divided into 12 sections. You may complete the course in one sitting...or in as many as you wish!
At the end of the course, you will complete a test consisting of 40 multiple choice questions. You must answer 80% of the questions correctly to pass the test. Almost all students pass the test on their first attempt; however, you don't pass on the first attempt, you can keep taking new exams until a passing score is achieved.
Print your same day Course Completion Certificate free-of-charge shortly after you complete your course.
Unfortunately, the answer is no. If you elected the Traffic School Option after receiving a traffic citation, you must complete the 4-hour Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) Course. After you complete the BDI Course to keep points from being added to your driver record, you may want to complete the Mature Driver Insurance Discount Course to receive a three-year discount on your auto insurance premium.
The amount of discount is left to the discretion of your auto insurance provider so please contact your provider to determine the discount that you will receive. After completing the Mature Driver Insurance Discount Course, the 70+ year old co-owner of Wise Traffic School and his 70+ year old wife saved $180 — $60/year for 3 years!
If you do not have a printer, there are several options you may use to print your Course Completion Certificate or to send it to your auto insurance agent. You may ask your insurance agent or someone else with a printer to log into our website and enter your login information. Your Course Completion Certificate will appear and can be printed. Also, we will send your Course Completion Certificate to you via email. You can forward your email to your insurance agent or someone else with a printer.
Wise Traffic School is approved by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) to provide the following courses:
When you complete one of the courses listed above, Wise Traffic School will post your Course Completion Certificate on our website. Simply enter your last name and course code in the red Returning Students box on our home page. Your Course Completion Certificate will appear on your screen, and you will be able to print it. Also, we will send an email with your Course Completion Certificate attached in PDF format. Sometimes this email may be directed to your junk email folder.
If you complete the course during normal business hours, your Course Completion Certificate should be available within a few hours. If you complete the course after normal business hours, your Course Completion Certificate should be available the next morning. If you are in a rush, please contact us by telephone at (877) 885-8843 when you complete the course, and we will issue your Certificate as soon as possible.
There is NO ADDITIONAL FEE to receive your Course Completion Certificate. Many schools charge additional fees if you want expedited delivery of your Course Completion Certificate. Wise Traffic School does NOT charge these additional expedited certificate delivery fees. Simply print your Course Completion Certificate from our website shortly after you complete your course.
If you ELECTED to attend a Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) Course for a traffic ticket, your Course Completion Certificate should be automatically forwarded to the Clerk of Court using the system described above. However, it is your responsibility to ensure your Course Completion Certificate has been received by the Clerk of Court.
If you were COURT-ORDERED to take a BDI Course, you should turn in your Course Completion Certificate to the Clerk of Court in the county where you received your traffic citation.
If the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) DIRECTED you to complete a BDI Course for running a red light, passing a stopped school bus, reckless driving, highway racing, or being a spectator to highway racing OR if the DHSMV DIRECTED you to compete a Traffic Collision Avoidance Course (same as BDI course), Wise Traffic School will transmit your Course Completion Certificate directly to the DHSMV.
After you complete the Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Education (TLSAE) Course, Wise Traffic School will transmit your Course Completion Certificate directly to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). However, we recommend that you print your Course Completion Certificate from our website and take it with you when you go to your local DMV office to obtain your Learner or First Time Driver License, as this document contains your Certificate Number. Your Certificate Number may be used by your local DMV office to locate your TLSAE Course completion information.
After you complete the Mature Driver Insurance Discount Course, please print your Course Completion Certificate and submit it to your auto insurance company to receive your discount.
If you complete a course provided by Wise Traffic School during normal business hours, your Course Completion Certificate will usually be transmitted to the DHSMV within a few hours. If you complete the course after normal business hours, your Course Completion Certificate will be transmitted to the DHSMV the following morning.