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Florida is set to enforce a new language policy for driver’s license tests, requiring all assessments to be conducted exclusively in English as of February 6th.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has announced that starting Friday, February 6, all written and practical exams for driver’s licenses in the state will only be available in English.
This policy change, which does away with previously available translated tests and interpreter services, affects all types of driver’s licenses, including those for commercial learners and commercial drivers.
According to a statement from FLHSMV, the updated rule mandates that all knowledge and skills tests for driver’s licenses will be administered in English. Prior to this change, most non-commercial license exams were offered in several languages, whereas commercial exams were available in both English and Spanish.
Jose Ortiz Velasquez, fluent in both English and Spanish, successfully completed his commercial driver’s license skills exam shortly before the new language requirements come into effect. He noted that overcoming the language barrier posed a significant challenge during the process.
“Being a person that speaks more Spanish and more fluently in Spanish, trying to understand it, in a Spanish point of view, it’s a little more difficult then, understanding it in English,” Ortiz Velasquez said.
Velasquez said he believes preparation is key for future test takers who are not fluent in English.
“They’re not doing it in a different language anymore, so they’re just doing it in one,” he said. “So what I advise because I speak two languages, is that, just practice: practice, practice, practice.”
Shawn Davis, the owner of CDL School Inc. in Jacksonville, said he supports requiring commercial driver testing to be conducted in English, citing safety concerns and industry standards.
“It’s not about just the test, it’s also the job and legitimate trucking carriers like Werner, Covenant, Swift, all of those major carriers are going to do an English proficiency test when they get there,” Davis said.
Davis said the ability to communicate in English is essential for safe driving, even if full fluency is not required.
“It doesn’t say proficiency. It says sufficiently,” Davis said. “So being able to have a simple conversation, understand road signs, understand directions or guidelines is crucial.”
The policy change follows heightened scrutiny of commercial driver safety after a fatal crash on the Florida Turnpike involving a commercial truck driver who made an illegal U-turn, resulting in the deaths of three people. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the driver, Harjinder Singh, entered the country illegally, could not speak English and could not read the road signs.
At the federal level, Duffy signed a directive in May of 2025 enforcing an executive order from President Donald Trump that allows truck drivers to be taken off the road if they are not able to read or speak English sufficiently. The order reinstates penalties that had previously been reduced to citations under the Obama administration.
In a statement, FLHSMV said its statewide system has already been updated to implement the new English-only testing requirements.