Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a news conference in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 12, 2025. AP Photo/Chris O’Meara, File
Starting on Feb. 6, Florida transitioned all driver’s license knowledge and skills tests to English-only, a change Gov. Ron DeSantis had advocated as a necessary safety measure.
“Good reform by [the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles] to require driver exams to be conducted only in English. Need to be able to read the road signs!” DeSantis wrote on X on Jan. 31.
The change applies to all driver’s license classifications, including exams administered orally, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced.
Before the change, the exams for most non-commercial driver’s license classifications were offered in a variety of languages, while commercial learner’s permit and commercial driver’s license tests were available in English and Spanish.
Under the new policy, all driver’s license knowledge exams and skills tests will be offered only in English.
Language translation services are also not allowed for the tests, and any printed exams in languages other than English have been removed from use.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried criticized the state’s new policy, calling it racist.
“In one of the most multilingual states in the country, Florida is going to implement driving tests only in English. This isn’t about safety; it’s about racism,” Fried posted on X on Jan. 31.
Non-native English speakers are prevalent in many areas of the Sunshine State. In Miami-Dade County, about 69 percent of the population is Latino, and about 32 percent of the population in Florida speaks a language other than English at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The move follows changes to federal law made by the Trump administration last year. In May 2025, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy signed an order strengthening federal guidelines requiring commercial truckers to be proficient in English.
A deadly accident on the Florida Turnpike on Aug. 12, 2025, outside of West Palm Beach, spurred Florida officials to impose stricter driver’s license requirements. In the accident, an illegal immigrant who was driving a semi-truck and had been granted a commercial driver’s license in California allegedly made an illegal U-turn and killed three people.
Florida has since sued the states of Washington and California over their policies of issuing commercial driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in violation of federal law.
A number of similar accidents involving foreign nationals across the nation have prompted the Trump administration to take further action to prevent states from continuing to issue commercial driver’s licenses to non-U.S. residents and enforce the English-language rules.
Duffy applauded Florida’s decision to move forward with English-only exams.
“Hats off to Florida,” Duffy posted on X on Feb. 9. “This is common sense to keep the American people SAFE! Whether you’re driving a sedan or a big rig, you need to be able to read the rules of the road and communicate with law enforcement.”
Florida Rep. Jimmy Patronis agreed in a social media post Feb. 9.
“This isn’t complicated,“ he wrote. ”If you can’t read the road signs, you don’t belong behind the wheel.”
