Category Archive: Ask the Driving School Instructor

Learner's permit traffic ticket

Ask The Driving School Instructor: If you get a ticket with a learner’s permit does it go on your driving record?

Question: If you get a ticket with a learner’s permit does it go on your driving record?

Answer: If you get a ticket while driving on your learner’s permit, it will go on your driving record. In Florida, a driver who is under the age of 18 must hold their learner’s permit for one year before being eligible to apply for a regular operator’s license. If you get a ticket during that period, your year begins again as of the date of the ticket. However, if you attend a driving school and your ticket, is “non-adjudicated” you can avoid having to start your year over again. You can only do that for one ticket.  If you get a ticket in another state, that ticket will be reported to Florida and will be treated just as if you received the ticket in Florida.

Teen driving

Ask The Driving School Instructor: In Florida, can you drive at night with a learner’s permit?

Question: Can you drive at night with a learner’s permit in Florida?

Answer: Under Florida law, a driver with a learner’s permit is restricted to daylight driving only for the first three months after receiving their learner’s permit. After the first three month period, you should start to practice driving at night. In fact, your parent or guardian must certify that you have had at least ten hours of supervised driving experience at night but you must receive that training before 10:00 at night. A driver with a learner’s permit is not allowed to drive under any circumstances between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

National Drivers Test

Ask The Driving School Instructor: Will New Laws Be On The Driving Test?

Question: I heard that there are some new driving laws that were passed in Florida this year. Will those they be on my driving test?

Answer: The Florida legislature has considered some changes to the driving laws this year but none of them are laws yet. If they pass the legislature and are signed into law by the governor, the laws probably won’t take effect until July 1st at the earliest. Some will go into effect on Oct. 1st and some on January 1st of next year.

 Your written driving test will be based on information in the Florida Driver Handbook and the latest version of that handbook was published in 2014. If you notice, at the beginning of the handbook, there is a section called “Important Law Changes”. That section will have all the new laws that have gone into effect as of the date the handbook was written.

 You’ll only be tested on the information that is currently in the handbook and not on any laws that may have been passed since then. Of course, if you go to take your behind-the-wheel driving test, you should be aware of any new laws that may have gone into effect and, even if a law, such as the new law against texting and driving, isn’t mentioned in the manual, it’s a good idea to obey it.

Who has the right of way at intersection

Ask The Driving School Instructor: Who has the right-of-way?

Question: I was making a right hand turn at a red light and was hit by someone turning left from the other lane. Who should have had the right-of-way?

Answer: Actually, no one automatically has the right-of-way. In a crash investigation, the police will try to determine which driver should have yielded the right-of-way to another and assign blame accordingly. A lot of drivers make the mistake of proceeding because they feel they have the right-of-way and wind up in a crash. The law says that every driver must do everything possible to avoid a collision. That means, even though you feel you may have the right-of-way, giving up the right-of-way to another driver who is trying to take it is the only safe option. You can’t take the right-of-way; you can only give it up to another driver.

In this case, if the driver making a left turn had a green turn light, then he had what is known as a “protected turn” and you should have yielded the right-of-way to him. If you both had had a green light, then he should have yielded to you. If you can’t see his light, then you should wait to make sure that he will remain in place and that you will have enough time and space to make your turn safely.

The important thing is to realize that both of you had the responsibility to avoid the collision. If you are going to assume anything about the intentions of another driver, then assume that they will do the worst possible thing and be prepared for it. Drivers need to signal their attentions, be aware of the actions of other drivers, and be prepared to stop.

Florida learner's permit

Ask the Driving School Instructor: Trick questions during the DMV test?

Question: Will there be any trick questions when I take my behind-the-wheel test at the DMV?

Answer: No! Believe me when I tell you the license examiners are too busy to play games during the test. They have a list of basic maneuvers that the applicant has to complete and a long line of applicants waiting to take the test. They just need to see if you can complete the listed driving maneuvers safely after passing the written test. Continue Reading