FLORIDA — The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles began requiring new drivers to take both written and oral driving tests exclusively in English in February 2026, ending prior accommodations that had allowed written exams to be taken in Spanish. The rule went into full effect in April 2026, with no translator assistance permitted during testing.

The change took effect less than a year after a commercial truck driver made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike and killed three people. The Trump administration pointed to the crash as evidence that immigrant truckers with limited English skills pose a threat on roads. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis praised the rule as a good reform.

Roughly one in three Floridians speak a foreign language at home, according to U.S. Census data. Florida is one of a few states that require English-only driving tests. In 1988, Florida voters approved making English the state's official language.

State Rep. Berny Jacques defended the policy. "If you don't know what road signs are saying, you're more likely to get into a car accident that puts all of us in peril." Jacques also said: "It's easy to get comfortable when you have a situation where there's a lot of people from your own community, you can go throughout a whole lifetime, going about and transacting business without ever speaking English."

Adriana Rivera, spokeswoman for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, opposed the change. "We're going to create a class of people that are going to be criminalized for something as simple as picking up a prescription." Rivera said.

At Speedway Driving School in Hialeah, which caters to Latin American immigrants, instructor Johannes González has redesigned his lessons to help Spanish-speaking students memorize key English words and how they appear on the exam. He teaches mostly in Spanish and uses a PowerPoint presentation with sample questions and charts. González said more students are failing the test on the first attempt, and that students over 50 are struggling with the lessons. The school charges a flat fee so students can attend as many classes as needed.

Alex López, a construction worker in Hialeah and a native of Guatemala, failed the 50-question multiple choice exam administered in English. "After they gave me instructions and taught me how to use the computer program, I froze. I felt sick," López said. He failed a second time and resumed studying. López, who speaks enough English to understand tools and follow instructions on job sites, described his language ability: "My inglés no es muy malo."