Florida Drivers Ed Online for Teens (DMV Licensed)

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 before being issued a learner's permit.

You should take this 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
• 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
• You've been told by the FLHSMV or a high-school driver education program that you need to complete the state driver education requirement

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 applicant — check current FLHSMV guidance, because the adult requirement has been in flux and is still settling
• You're transferring an out-of-state license as a fully licensed driver (the rules for transfers are different)

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 your driving record before paying.

How does the new Florida DETS final exam work?

At the end of the course, Florida now requires a graded multiple-choice final exam — 40 questions, 80% to pass, 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 changes new Florida teen drivers should understand before they start. The old TLSAE course didn't gate completion behind a serious final exam. DETS does.

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	1 attempt before re-enrollment is required
Delivery	In-person at an approved provider OR fully online
Question source	FLHSMV-mandated DETS curriculum (SB 994, effective August 1, 2025)
Practice prep included with ETS	Section quizzes throughout the course, plus a dedicated DETS exam-prep section

There's no shortcut for the DETS final. 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.

Florida's stance: this exam is a real bar to clear. It's not a formality. That's the design.

What about the Florida Knowledge Exam at FLHSMV?

Yes — the Florida Knowledge Exam at FLHSMV is separate from the DETS final and is still required for teens. DETS first, then the Knowledge Exam at the FLHSMV office.

The two exams cover overlapping material but they're not the same test. The DETS final happens online inside our course. The Florida Knowledge Exam happens at the FLHSMV (or in some cases at an authorized high school program that proctors it). You need both for teens. As of May 2026 the state has not changed the Knowledge Exam requirement for the teen permit pathway.

For adults, the rules have been moving. The FLHSMV continues to update the page that covers adult applicant testing requirements, and current guidance should be checked before any adult applicant assumes they're exempt. This course page focuses on the teen pathway, which is clear: DETS + Florida Knowledge Exam + parental supervised driving + road test = full license process.

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.

Module map:

Module	Florida connection
1. Welcome and how to get your driver license	§322.095, §322.1615 (learner's license); 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, what you bring, what FLHSMV charges, how the graduated license stages work in Florida (learner's permit at 15 after DETS + Knowledge Exam; intermediate license at 16 with supervised driving hours; full license at 18). Parental signatures, proof of identity, proof of residency. Boring but necessary.

2. Signs, signals, and road markings

Stop, yield, regulatory, warning, guide. Includes Florida-specific signage you won't see elsewhere — hurricane evacuation route signs, contraflow reversal signs, the blue Florida's Turnpike trailblazers. Lane markings, pavement arrows, what the diamond means.

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. The module covers basic monthly checks plus hurricane-season prep (full tank, charged phone, real plan).

4. Driving rules and maneuvers

Right-of-way at four-way stops. Lane changes. The Florida Move Over Law (FL Stat §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. School zone speed limits. School bus rules. The kind of material the Knowledge Exam questions tend to come back to.

5. Sharing the road

Florida has heavy mixed-use traffic. Cyclists in Miami Beach, scooters 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. This module covers the rules and the situational awareness.

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 FL Stat §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.

7. Be a safe and confident driver

Florida driving conditions that catch new drivers off guard. Afternoon thunderstorms that drop visibility to almost nothing. Sudden flooding on Miami streets after 20 minutes of rain. Sun glare on east-west roads during sunrise commute. 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.

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%, 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 — 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 it wrong, see why, try again.
3. Use the exam prep section. Built specifically to cover the categories the state's DETS curriculum draws from.
4. Sit the DETS final exam. Pass at 80%. The prep section is there for a reason — go in prepared.
5. Receive your DETS certificate. That's your proof to FLHSMV that you've satisfied the driver education requirement under Florida Statute §322.095.
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, eventual intermediate license at 16, full license at 18.

How much does the Florida DETS online course cost?

The ETS DETS course is $20.00. FLHSMV charges separate state fees for the learner's permit application and the Knowledge Exam at the office. There is no separate state 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
DETS certificate of completion	Included	ETS Traffic School
FLHSMV learner's permit application fee	Set by FLHSMV (varies, check current)	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 market. Some larger national brands charge two or three times that for what amounts to the same FLHSMV-approved 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 ticket	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 instead — 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 approved by FLHSMV 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) — South Florida's largest teen driver population
• Broward County (Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines) — I-95 and Sawgrass Expressway driving environment
• Palm Beach County (West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach)
• Orange County (Orlando) — Florida's Turnpike, I-4, and the constant tourist traffic that comes with it
• Hillsborough County (Tampa) — I-275 / I-4 / Selmon Expressway driving
• Pinellas County (St. Petersburg, Clearwater)
• Duval County (Jacksonville) — I-95 / I-10 / I-295 driving
• Brevard, Volusia, Polk, Lee, Collier, Sarasota, Manatee, Marion, Leon, Alachua, Escambia, St. Lucie, Pasco, Hernando, Citrus — all served

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. The DETS curriculum addresses both. It's a Florida-specific course, taught with Florida driving conditions in mind, by a Florida company.

About this page

This page was written and reviewed for the Florida Drivers Ed Online for Teens course — 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, §322.27) were verified against the official Florida statutes at leg.state.fl.us as of May 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 at flhsmv.gov. 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: May 2026
Next scheduled review: November 2026 (or sooner if Florida DETS rules, the 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 DETS certificate that gets you to the Florida Knowledge Exam. Start your Florida drivers ed for teens course now.