Driving School Terms – An Overview

Driving School Terms

If you’ve been searching for a place to take driving lessons, you’ve probably been bombarded with a LOT of different driving school terms, course offerings, and tests — which can be confusing. What is all this nonsense? What do you actually need? We’ll try to help you sort it out.

Behind-the-Wheel Driving Lessons (this is what we offer!)

What you’re looking for if you want in-car instruction on how to actually drive a car is called “behind the wheel” training. Check our FAQ page for details on all of the requirements to get a driver’s license.

In Florida, you must be a trained and licensed instructor working for a state certified driving school to legally offer behind-the-wheel driving instruction. Conveniently, the state provides a list of these Florida State Certified Driving Schools. So, if you want the most legitimate place to begin looking for a driving school, that’s it! If they’re not on that list, they’re not certified.

The state of Florida requires all driving schools to meet strict state requirements for instructor training and background checks; and for driver’s ed cars to have safety controls and proper insurance. If a school is not certified, they may not be properly insured, and who knows if they are trained or not?

Traffic School (we don’t offer online courses or testing)

You’ll see a lot of websites about “traffic school.” That is almost invariably going to be one of the “schools” (many of which are nothing more than an online presence) that offer the ticket “diversion” course and court-ordered courses, such as BDI (basic driver improvement), ADI (advanced driver improvement), etc. They are all good courses, especially the ones that require in-class attendance. But, NONE of them are actual in-car instruction. Online courses, while potentially informative, are explicitly designed to be quick and easy to pass in order to satisfy a legal requirement.

Many online courses are offered – Florida driving and education courses. But, here’s what you need to know — almost all of those offerings are for people who are either trying to keep penalty points off of their driver’s license from a traffic infraction, or who were court ordered to take one of those courses.

The only courses that actually apply to a new driver trying to get a license are:

  • Behind the Wheel Training – this is the actual in-car driving instruction that WE offer!
  • Traffic Law & Substance Abuse – the 4-hour course you must take to get your permit or license.
  • Driver’s License Exams – which can be taken at the Tax Collector (DMV), a public school driver’s ed program, or a state-contracted private driving school. (sorry, we don’t have a state contract to provide testing)