As of Feb. 6, the driver's license exam and its instructions will be administered exclusively in English, following a new directive from Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Previously, the exams and instructions for obtaining a driver's license or a permit were available in multiple languages, including Spanish, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, French and Russian.
The change poses a disruption for Florida’s large non-English-speaking communities. In 2023, over one in five Florida households reported speaking primarily Spanish at home. Haitian Creole was the second-most-common non-English language, at a little over 2% of households.
In Gainesville, community members have reservations about the change.
UF Spanish and Portuguese professor María Laura Mecías said she was able to take a license exam in Spanish in 2021, before the directive went into effect. She said having the exam interpreted in her native language gave her a sense of security and comfort, and she wishes others had the same opportunity.
“I felt more safe knowing that I would not have to worry about not knowing a word,” Mecías said. “I was more calm in understanding what I was doing, and at no moment did I have any complication.”
Still, she said, people who need a driver's license will adapt by studying for the exam regardless of the language in which the test is offered.
The change comes after Harjinder Singh, an undocumented U.S. immigrant from India, attempted to make an illegal U-turn on Florida’s turnpike, killing three people in August 2025. When Singh failed an English proficiency test, some Florida politicians began to call for a ban on people who don’t read English getting driver’s licenses.
Lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, argued the change will make Florida’s roads safer. The governor posted about the policy on X on Jan. 31.
"Good reform by FHSMV to require driver exams be conducted only in English," he wrote. "Need to be able to read the road signs!"
Evidence that people who take driving exams in a foreign language pose a higher risk on the road remains limited. A PolitiFact analysis reported that experts from the National Safety Council and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety were unaware of any research indicating as much.
Guidelines for foreign-language exams from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators indicate a person’s inability to read or speak English “is not necessarily a barrier to proper motor vehicle operation” as long as the driver can interpret signs, signals and markings.
Ericka Ghersi, the board chair for Gainesville’s Latina Women’s League, said the new directive is discouraging to the Latine community.
Ghersi said members of the Latina Women’s League have spoken to her, concerned about the directive. Many of them are in the process of learning English but are not advanced enough to take the test. While the organization is contemplating solutions, like offering a class for members, Ghersi said it lacks the funding to hire educators and buy teaching tools.
The current atmosphere surrounding the Latine and international community is already tense, and the new state directive won’t improve that, she said.
“I think we all know how hard it’s getting to navigate in this new climate,” she said. “This is not going to be good for anyone; we are not improving anything with this.”
Jonathan Skaggs, the manager of Blue Line Driving School in Gainesville, said the school’s services have always been offered in multiple languages, including Spanish and Haitian Creole, to get people ready for the driver’s license exam.
A large percentage of Skaggs’ students are not native English speakers and benefit from being able to take the exam in Spanish. Many of them are primarily seeking a license to get a better job or take care of their families.
He called the state directive “absurd,” saying it takes away from Florida residents having a fair chance at an exam.
“There’s a lot of the population [that’s] Spanish-speaking, so it’s just kind of crazy that they would take that away from people,” Skaggs said.
Contact Angelique Rodriguez at arodriguez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @angeliquesrod.
Contact Dulce Rodriguez-Escamilla at drodriguez@alligator.org. Follow her on X @DulceRodrigueze.
Dulce Rodriguez is a sophomore Journalism Major with a Public Relations minor in her first semester at The Alligator, working as El Caimán's general assignment reporter. She loves to dance and bake in her free time, and she also enjoys watching murder mysteries and documentaries.
Angelique is a first-year journalism major and the Fall 2025 graduate school reporter. In her free time, she'll probably be reading, writing, hanging out with her friends or looking through the newest fashion runway shows on Vogue.
