Field sobriety tests. Everyone knows what they are, but few people know much more than that. Standardized field sobriety tests (by the NHTSA) include the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, one-legged stand test, and the walk-and-turn test. Often times, the administering police officer will add some non-standardized tests to the mix.
But what is more important than the type of test given is the purpose for which the test is given. To understand field sobriety tests, you have to know what they are meant for. They are not “tests” in the traditional sense, meaning that you can’t “pass” these tests. They are meant to test whether you are too impaired to drive safely.
Before I go any further, this article is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. If you need a DUI attorney, you should contact a lawyer who is licensed in your specific state.
While field sobriety tests are administered every day to determine whether people are too impaired to drive safely, they are inherently unfair. There are so many reasons, independent of alcohol, as to why a driver might perform poorly on these tests. What if the driver is tired? What if the driver is simply uncoordinated? What if the driver is distracted by something else in his or her life?
In addition to all the variables, these tests are usually performed at night under pressurized circumstances on the side of the road. Even the most sober person in the world will have trouble in this environment.
Finally, field sobriety tests (and how the driver fared) are completely in the eye of the beholder. The beholder in this case is the police officer. Whatever he or she says with respect to how you performed is likely not to be questioned.
As a DUI attorney, I am happy when a new client tells me that he or she did not take field sobriety tests after being stopped for suspected DUI. This makes my job a little bit easier (of course, there is usually that pesky breath machine to deal with as well), because the field sobriety tests are designed for the driver to fail.
There are two more things to realize about field sobriety tests. The first thing is that they are usually optional. Find out whether this is the case in your jurisdiction. The police officer will rarely tell you that. If the officer is asking you to take field sobriety tests, he or she has already likely smelled alcohol on your breath and is going to arrest you. Don’t give the state more evidence.
The second thing is that field sobriety tests are not an exact science. Often times, the police officer will not have followed the proper procedure. In other words, the evidence produced as a result of taking the tests is defensible.
For more information on DUI, or other traffic-related offenses, take a look at the traffic attorney blog, written by a DUI attorney.
