Florida Drivers Ed Online for Teens FLHSMV-Approved

Who needs to take the Florida DETS course?

First-time Florida driver license applicants — predominantly Florida teens age 14½ through 17 — who need to satisfy the state's driver education prerequisite under §322.095 before being issued a learner's permit.

You should take this teen drivers ed Florida course if:

• You're a Florida resident, age 14½ or older, planning to apply for a first learner's permit at 15
• You're a Florida teen age 16 or 17 who hasn't yet earned a permit and now needs to (the under-18 pathway is DETS — TLSAE no longer applies for under-18 first-time applicants)
• You're a transferring teen from another state who has never held a U.S. learner's permit, and Florida is treating you as a first-time applicant under §322.1615
• You've been told by FLHSMV or by a high-school driver education program that you need to complete the state driver education requirement
• You're a parent searching online drivers ed Florida 15 year old, online drivers ed Florida 16 year old, or online drivers ed Florida 17 year old — same course, same statute, same final exam

You probably don't need this specific course if:

• You already hold a valid Florida learner's permit or full Florida driver license
• You're an adult first-time applicant — Florida 18+ first-time applicants stay on the 4-hour TLSAE track under §322.095. DETS is the under-18 course
• You're transferring an out-of-state license as a fully licensed driver — different rules apply

The course mirrors what Florida considers core road safety education for new drivers. None of it goes to waste even if your situation is borderline. But if you're not sure you need the course at all, call your local FLHSMV office or check the FLHSMV education courses page before paying.

Comparison: who DETS is for vs. who takes other Florida courses

Driver situation	Right Florida course
First-time Florida driver license applicant, under 18	DETS (this course) — 6 hours, online or in-person
First-time Florida driver license applicant, 18 or older	TLSAE — 4 hours
Already-licensed Florida driver with a recent moving citation	Florida 4-Hour Basic Driver Improvement (BDI)
Already-licensed Florida driver under court order after multiple violations	Florida 8-Hour Intermediate Driver Improvement (IDI)
Florida driver dealing with a suspension	FLHSMV reinstatement track (separate)

That table covers most of the "which Florida course do I take" confusion. Florida teens applying for a permit for the first time take DETS. Everyone else takes a different course.

How does the new Florida DETS final exam work?

At the end of the course, Florida requires a graded multiple-choice final exam — 40 questions, 80% to pass (32 of 40), up to 3 attempts under current FLHSMV implementation policy for the SB 994 DETS program (effective August 1, 2025).

This is one of the biggest things new Florida teen drivers should know before they enroll. The old 4-hour TLSAE didn't gate completion behind a serious final exam. DETS does. It's a real bar — pass it, and you've satisfied the state's driver education prerequisite under §322.095. Don't pass it inside three attempts and you re-enroll.

Final exam at a glance:

Item	Detail
Format	Multiple-choice, administered at the end of the DETS course
Number of questions	40
Passing score	80% (32 of 40 correct)
Attempts allowed	Up to 3 attempts before re-enrollment is required (per FLHSMV implementation)
Delivery	In-person at an approved provider OR fully online
Question source	FLHSMV-mandated DETS curriculum (SB 994 (2025); DETS requirement operative August 1, 2025)
Practice prep included with ETS	Section quizzes throughout the course, plus a dedicated DETS exam-prep section

There's no shortcut. Two students sitting the 40-question test back-to-back will see different question sets pulled from the state-mandated curriculum. We build the section quizzes and the prep material to cover the categories the state draws from, so students who actually work through the lessons usually pass on the first of their three allowed attempts. That's the design — it's a focus check, not a memory trick.

Important: the DETS final exam is not the same as the Florida Knowledge Exam at FLHSMV. Different test, different room, different purpose. The DETS final lives inside this course. The Florida Knowledge Exam lives at the FLHSMV office (some high-school proctored programs administer it too). Florida teens applying for a learner's permit need both. Adults? The rules have been moving — check current FLHSMV guidance before assuming anything.

How does Florida's graduated driver license work for teens?

Florida's graduated driver license framework under §322.16 walks teens through three stages — learner's permit at 15, intermediate Class E license at 16-17, full Class E license at 18 — each with its own restrictions on driving hours and supervision.

The Florida graduated driver license teen rules are easier to understand if you see all three stages at once. Florida doesn't hand a 15-year-old keys without limits; it phases driving privileges in over three years.

Florida graduated driver license stages (codified in §322.16):

Stage	Earliest age	Prerequisites	Driving restrictions
Learner's permit (§322.1615)	15	DETS certificate + Florida Knowledge Exam at FLHSMV + vision/hearing screening + parental consent	Supervised driving only, licensed driver 21+ in front seat; daylight only for first 3 months, then until 10 PM
Intermediate Class E (16-17)	16	At least 12 months on permit + 50 logged hours (10 at night) + pass Florida road test	Cannot drive 11 PM-6 AM (age 16) or 1 AM-5 AM (age 17) without licensed driver 21+, unless going to/from work
Full Class E	18	Clean driving record on intermediate license	None of the teen restrictions

Note: the supervised practice driving hours (50 hours, 10 at night) are logged by the parent or guardian on the official log form during the permit phase. The Florida road test happens at FLHSMV (or at an FLHSMV-authorized third-party tester) once the permit-phase requirements are met.

Two specific Florida statutes Florida teens should know before they get behind the wheel:

• Zero-tolerance for under-21 drivers (§322.2616): Any breath-alcohol level at 0.02% or higher while driving as an under-21 results in immediate license suspension. Florida doesn't grant teen DUI offenders the same 0.08% threshold adults get.
• Florida Move Over Law (§316.126): When approaching a stopped emergency vehicle, tow truck, or utility crew with lights flashing, you slow down and move over a lane — this comes up on the DETS final and on the Florida Knowledge Exam.

Florida teens who learn this material once tend to stay out of trouble through 18. Florida teens who treat the course as a checkbox often run into one of these statutes at 16. The course is built to make sure the right things stick.

What you'll learn in the Florida DETS course (7-module curriculum)

Seven modules covering Florida-specific licensing, signs and signals, vehicle safety, driving rules, sharing the road, alcohol and drug impact, and confident-driver fundamentals. The curriculum is FLHSMV-mandated under the DETS rule set.

Module map:

Module	Florida connection
1. Welcome and how to get your driver license	§322.095, §322.1615; FLHSMV permit application path
2. Signs, signals, and road markings	Florida-specific signage including hurricane evacuation route signs
3. Vehicle safety features and maintenance	Florida heat/humidity considerations, hurricane-season vehicle prep
4. Driving rules and maneuvers	Florida Move Over Law (§316.126), school zone rules, right-of-way
5. Sharing the road	Florida pedestrian/cyclist rules, motorcycles, large trucks on I-75 / I-95 / Turnpike
6. Alcohol and drugs	Florida zero-tolerance for under-21 (§322.2616), DUI consequences
7. Be a safe and confident driver	Florida fog, sudden rain, hurricane evacuation driving, congested I-4 / I-95 reality

1. Welcome and how to get your Florida driver license

The administrative side. Where you go (your local FLHSMV office, or an FLHSMV-authorized driver license service center), what you bring (DETS certificate, parental consent, proof of identity, proof of residency, Social Security card or equivalent under §322.08), what FLHSMV charges (fees set by FLHSMV — verify current rate at flhsmv.gov before booking), and how the graduated license stages work. Boring but necessary. Skipping this module is how you end up at FLHSMV with the wrong paperwork and a lost morning.

2. Signs, signals, and road markings

Stop, yield, regulatory, warning, guide. Includes Florida-specific signage you won't see in many other states — hurricane evacuation route signs, the blue Florida's Turnpike trailblazers, contraflow reversal signs that appear when Florida runs an evacuation. Lane markings, pavement arrows, what a diamond means in a Florida HOV lane. Most of the Florida Knowledge Exam questions land somewhere in this module's territory, so it pays to slow down here.

3. Vehicle safety features and maintenance

Seat belts, airbags, ABS, traction control, ADAS basics. The Florida twist: heat. Florida summers do things to tires and batteries that drivers in cooler states don't think about. Tire pressure changes with 95-degree pavement. Batteries cook in Tampa parking lots. The module covers basic monthly checks plus hurricane-season prep — full tank, charged phone, real plan. Florida hits two hurricane landfalls a decade on average. Plan for it.

4. Driving rules and maneuvers

Right-of-way at four-way stops. Lane changes. The Florida Move Over Law (§316.126) — you slow down and move over for stopped emergency vehicles, tow trucks, and utility crews on Florida roads, and the law is enforced aggressively across I-75, I-95, the Turnpike, and Tampa-area state routes. School zone speed limits. School bus stop-arm rules. The kind of material the Florida Knowledge Exam questions tend to come back to.

5. Sharing the road

Florida has heavy mixed-use traffic. Cyclists in Miami Beach. Scooters and pedicabs in South Beach. Semis on I-75 between Tampa and the Georgia line. Motorcycles year-round because there's no winter. Pedestrians at crosswalks across every Florida college town (think Gainesville, Tallahassee, and the Orlando-area university corridors). This module covers the rules and the situational awareness. Florida ranks high on pedestrian fatalities every year — the module doesn't sugarcoat it.

6. Alcohol and drugs

Florida's BAC limits: 0.08% for drivers 21+, 0.04% for CDL holders, and 0.02% for drivers under 21 (zero tolerance under §322.2616). Marijuana driving rules. Prescription drug interactions. The module is candid about how easy it is to underestimate impairment and how heavy the Florida penalty structure is for a first DUI. It also covers reckless driving under §316.192. For a 16-year-old, one DUI conviction can mean an immediate suspension that follows you into adulthood. That's the part that sticks.

7. Be a safe and confident driver

Florida driving conditions that catch new drivers off guard. Afternoon thunderstorms that drop visibility to almost nothing on I-4 between Tampa and Orlando. Sudden flooding on Miami streets after 20 minutes of rain. Sun glare on east-west roads during sunrise commute (anyone who drives I-595 east toward Fort Lauderdale at 7 AM in winter knows). Hurricane evacuation traffic on I-75 northbound. Fog on the Suncoast Parkway. The module ends with the mindset piece — drive defensively, don't assume anyone else is paying attention, and leave a buffer.

What will your teen study? (chapter outline)

Here's the full module map of the FLHSMV-mandated 6-hour DETS curriculum, in the order your teen will work through it. Seven modules, each with immediate-feedback section quizzes, building toward the state-graded final.

1. Welcome and how to get your Florida driver license. The administrative path under §322.095 and §322.1615 — where you go, what you bring, what FLHSMV charges, and how the graduated license stages fit together.
2. Signs, signals, and road markings. Stop, yield, regulatory, warning, and guide signs, plus Florida-specific signage like hurricane evacuation route signs and contraflow reversal signs — the territory most Florida Knowledge Exam questions come from.
3. Vehicle safety features and maintenance. Seat belts, airbags, ABS, traction control, and ADAS basics, with the Florida heat-and-humidity twist on tires and batteries and a hurricane-season prep checklist.
4. Driving rules and maneuvers. Right-of-way at four-way stops, lane changes, school-zone and school-bus stop-arm rules, and the Florida Move Over Law under §316.126.
5. Sharing the road. Cyclists, scooters and pedicabs, motorcycles year-round, semis on I-75, and pedestrians in Florida's college towns — the situational awareness behind Florida's high pedestrian-fatality numbers.
6. Alcohol and drugs. Florida's BAC limits (0.08% for 21+, 0.04% CDL, and 0.02% zero-tolerance for under-21 under §322.2616), marijuana and prescription-drug rules, and reckless driving under §316.192.
7. Be a safe and confident driver. The Florida conditions that catch new drivers off guard — I-4 thunderstorms, Miami street flooding, sunrise glare, evacuation traffic, Suncoast Parkway fog — closing on the defensive-driving mindset.

Cap it with the state-graded 40-question multiple-choice final at 80% to pass (32 of 40), up to 3 attempts under current FLHSMV implementation policy, and your teen earns the Florida DETS Certificate of Completion — the driver education prerequisite that comes before the Florida Knowledge Exam and the learner's permit at FLHSMV.

How do I complete the Florida DETS course step-by-step?

Enroll online, finish the 7 modules at your pace, pass the DETS final at 80% (up to 3 attempts), receive your certificate, then bring it to FLHSMV for the Florida Knowledge Exam and learner's permit.

Step-by-step:

1. Enroll at etstrafficschool.com — Florida teens can start at 14½. Florida lets teens apply for a learner's permit at 15 once DETS and the Knowledge Exam are done, so most families start the course six months before the teen's 15th birthday. Parent or guardian information is part of the sign-up.
2. Work through the 7 modules. Read the material, work through the interactive lessons, take the section quizzes. Quizzes are immediate-feedback — get one wrong, see why, try again. The state-required content is about 6 hours total, but Florida doesn't impose a daily time cap. Most teens split it across several sessions of an hour or two.
3. Use the exam prep section. Built specifically to cover the categories the state's DETS curriculum draws from. This is the difference between a focused first-attempt pass and burning attempts.
4. Sit the DETS final exam. Pass at 80% (32 of 40). Per FLHSMV implementation policy under SB 994, you have up to 3 attempts before re-enrollment is required. Treat the first attempt as the one that matters.
5. Receive your DETS certificate the moment you pass. Your Florida DETS Certificate of Completion is your proof to FLHSMV that you've satisfied the driver education requirement under §322.095. The certificate is delivered electronically; your completion is also reported electronically to FLHSMV by the course provider.
6. Bring the certificate to FLHSMV. Schedule your learner's permit appointment. Bring the DETS certificate, parental consent paperwork, and the IDs and proofs FLHSMV asks for. Take the Florida Knowledge Exam there.
7. Pass the Knowledge Exam → walk out with a Florida learner's permit. From there: parental-supervised driving practice (50 hours total, 10 at night), the intermediate Class E license at 16, full Class E at 18.

How much does the Florida DETS online course cost?

The ETS Florida DETS course is $20.00 flat. FLHSMV charges separate state fees for the learner's permit application and the Florida Knowledge Exam at the office. There is no separate state DETS course fee.

Cost breakdown:

Item	Cost	Who collects it
ETS Florida DETS online course	$20.00	ETS Traffic School
Section quizzes + prep + final exam	Included	ETS Traffic School
Florida DETS Certificate of Completion (digital)	Included	ETS Traffic School
Electronic reporting of completion to FLHSMV	Included	ETS Traffic School
FLHSMV learner's permit application fee	Set by FLHSMV — verify at flhsmv.gov	FLHSMV
Florida Knowledge Exam at FLHSMV	Included in permit fee at most offices	FLHSMV
Driver license fees (later, when applying)	Set by FLHSMV	FLHSMV

Twenty dollars for the state-required driver education piece is on the lower end of the Florida drivers ed cost online market. Some larger national brands charge two or three times that for what amounts to the same FLHSMV-approved 6-hour curriculum framework. We keep the price low because teens shouldn't have to call their parents three times for a credit card.

DETS vs TLSAE vs BDI — which Florida course do I take?

Course	Who it's for	Length	Final exam	Authorizing statute
Driver Education and Traffic Safety (DETS)	First-time Florida applicants under 18	6 hrs	40 questions, 80%, 3 attempts	§322.095 + 2025 SB 994
Traffic Law and Substance Abuse Ed (TLSAE)	First-time Florida applicants 18 and older	4 hrs	Course-completion check, no graded state exam	§322.095
Basic Driver Improvement (BDI)	Already-licensed Florida driver with a recent citation	4 hrs	Open-book	§318.14 + §322.0261

If you're a Florida teen and you're under 18, DETS is the course Florida wants from you. If you're 18+ applying for your first Florida license, you're on the TLSAE track — same statute, different course. BDI is a different animal entirely; that's for drivers who already have a Florida license and are dealing with a citation.

Where in Florida does the DETS course work?

Statewide. The Florida DETS course is FLHSMV-approved and the certificate is honored at every FLHSMV office across all 67 Florida counties.

Major coverage across Florida:

• Miami-Dade County (Miami, Hialeah, Coral Gables, Doral) — South Florida's largest teen driver population. Search variants: drivers ed online Miami Florida teens, online drivers ed Miami, cheap drivers ed Miami, drivers ed online Hialeah teens
• Broward County (Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs) — I-95 and Sawgrass Expressway driving environment. Search variants: drivers ed online Fort Lauderdale teens
• Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach)
• Orange County (Orlando, Winter Park, Apopka) — Florida's Turnpike, I-4, and the constant tourist traffic that comes with it. Search variants: drivers ed online Orlando Florida teens
• Hillsborough County (Tampa, Brandon, Plant City) — I-275 / I-4 / Selmon Expressway. Search variants: drivers ed online Tampa Florida teens, online drivers ed Tampa, cheap drivers ed Tampa
• Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo) — drivers ed online St Petersburg teens
• Duval County (Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach) — I-95 / I-10 / I-295. Search variants: drivers ed online Jacksonville Florida teens, online drivers ed Jacksonville, cheap drivers ed Jacksonville
• Leon County (Tallahassee) — drivers ed online Tallahassee teens, state capital region
• Alachua County (Gainesville) — drivers ed online Gainesville teens, University of Florida college-town traffic
• Brevard, Volusia, Polk, Lee, Collier, Sarasota, Manatee, Marion, Escambia, St. Lucie, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus — all served by the same Florida drivers ed online for teens course

A Florida teen driving south of Tampa on I-75 in a sudden afternoon thunderstorm is dealing with a real situation. A Miami teen merging from the 836 onto the 826 at 5 PM is dealing with a different one. A Jacksonville teen on I-295 in a rainstorm is dealing with a third. The DETS curriculum addresses all of them. So when Florida parents search "Jacksonville drivers ed online," "Miami drivers ed online," or "Tampa drivers ed online" — the answer is the same FLHSMV-approved Florida drivers ed online for teens DMV approved course. It's a Florida-specific course, taught with Florida driving conditions in mind, by a Florida company.

About this page

This Florida drivers ed online for teens page was written and reviewed for the Driver Education and Traffic Safety (DETS) program offered by ETS Traffic School. Statutory references (§322.095, §322.16, §322.1615, §322.2616, §316.126, §316.192, §322.0261, §318.14) were verified against the official Florida statutes at leg.state.fl.us as of June 2026. The DETS program was enacted under 2025 Florida Senate Bill 994, effective August 1, 2025, expanding driver education for first-time under-18 driver license applicants. The 40-question, 80%-to-pass, 3-attempts final exam structure reflects current FLHSMV implementation policy and should be confirmed against your enrollment terms before sitting the exam. Florida graduated driver license stages reference FLHSMV's published licensing information. Adult first-time applicants (18+) take the separate TLSAE course; readers in adult-applicant situations should verify current FLHSMV guidance before relying on this page.

Last reviewed: June 2026
Next scheduled review: December 2026 (or sooner if Florida DETS rules, the Florida Knowledge Exam structure, or adult applicant requirements are amended)

Start your Florida drivers ed for teens course today

Your Florida learner's permit is on the other side of one Florida drivers ed online for teens course and one Florida Knowledge Exam at FLHSMV. The DETS course is the first step. Enroll at etstrafficschool.com for $20.00, work through the 7 DETS modules at your own pace from a phone, tablet, or laptop, pass the state-mandated DETS final exam at 80%, and walk into FLHSMV with the FLHSMV-approved Florida DETS Certificate of Completion that gets you to the Florida Knowledge Exam.

Enroll in the Florida Drivers Ed for Teens (DETS) course →

Questions before you enroll? Check the ETS Traffic School support center or call our Florida support line during business hours.