We’ve all heard and talked about field sobriety tests. Usually it was in college after a couple of beers. Sometimes it’s after being stopped by the cops and asked to do them. Whatever the case, everyone knows doing them is not easy, and no one knows if they actually tell the cops anything. To learn more, keep reading.
Field sobriety tests don’t actually test sobriety at all. That is why most Seattle DUI lawyers refer to them as roadside tests. They are tests conducted by the roadside, but they don’t tell you if you are too drunk to drive. Many people concede they don’t tell you anything at all.
When roadside tests were dreamed up by the National Highway Safety and Transportation Association (NHSTA) they hoped they would be able to come up with tests that would be able to alert police officers in the field as to whether or not someone was too drunk to drive. All they could come up with, though, were a series of tests, that, if done exactly right, would indicate a likelihood of blowing over .10 on a breathalyzer test. And that’s it.
And though designed for .10, when the legal limit was lowered to .08, do you think the government retested the roadside tests? If you said no you are correct. They just re-evaluated their data and, as you might expect, determined that the results work just as good for .08 as for .10.
This is why, when you actually get to court, the cops aren’t allowed to get up there and say that you were driving under the influence because you failed the roadside tests. All they can show is a likelihood that you had consumed alcohol. And to even get there the cops have to show the tests were administered properly.
In the end, roadside tests are a lot of junk science. The cops like to use them because people have been taught that they can genuinely tell if someone is too drunk to drive. In Washington, where I am a Seattle DUI lawyer, they are completely voluntary, and should never be done anyway. They are tough to do without practice, and almost never help your cause. Just say no.
Want to find out more about Seattle DUI lawyers? Then visit us. We’ll show you how to choose the best Seattle DUI lawyer for your needs.
