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DUI & Traffic Crimes

Florida’s Habitual Traffic Offender Law: What Changed in 2026

Since July 1, 2026, three convictions for driving without a valid license within five years can lead to a habitual traffic offender designation.

  • By Pinellas Criminal Law Editorial Team
  • Updated
  • First published
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  • 2 min read
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Quick answer

Chapter 2026-53, Laws of Florida, known as “Isaiah’s Law,” took effect on July 1, 2026. It added driving without a valid license to the offenses that count toward a habitual traffic offender designation under section 322.264. Three or more convictions for the listed offenses within five years lead to the designation, which carries a license revocation of at least five years.

What changed

Chapter 2026-53, Laws of Florida (Committee Substitute for House Bill 35) amended section 322.264, Florida Statutes, by adding one offense to the list in subsection (1): driving a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of section 322.03.

Effective date

July 1, 2026. The Governor approved the act on April 23, 2026.

Who is affected

Drivers with convictions for driving without a valid license, alone or together with the other offenses on the list.

The previous rule

A habitual traffic offender was a person whose driving record showed, within a five-year period, either:

  • three or more convictions, arising from separate acts, for manslaughter resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle, DUI, any felony in which a motor vehicle is used, driving while a license is suspended or revoked, failing to stop and render aid after a crash involving death or personal injury, or driving a commercial motor vehicle while disqualified; or
  • fifteen convictions for moving traffic offenses for which points may be assessed.

Driving without a valid license was not on the list.

The new rule

The list of offenses in the first group now also includes driving a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of section 322.03. The five-year period and the requirement of three or more convictions from separate acts are unchanged.

What the designation means

  • Under section 322.27(5), the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles revokes the license of a person designated a habitual traffic offender, and the person is not eligible to be relicensed for at least five years, except as section 322.271 provides.
  • Under section 322.34, a person who drives while designated a habitual traffic offender commits a third-degree felony.

See our summary of section 322.34 and the DUI and Traffic Crimes topic page.

Official resources and sources

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