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Columbia, MD 21045 Telephone
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DUI Defense
Field Sobriety Tests
The Field Sobriety Tests
given by police officers do not meet the criteria for reliability set by the relevant scientific
community due to the absence of sufficient data establishing a credible
correlation between poor performance and impairment. If you are
stopped by the police, politely
refuse the officer's request to perform "some tests" on the side of the
road. You will learn why refusing to take these tests is so
important as you read on.
 Many people believe that the
results of Standard Field Sobriety Tests (SFST's) indicate whether or not
a person is capable of operating a motor vehicle safely. Such a
belief is flatly wrong. The tests developed for the National
Highway Safety and Traffic Administration (NHTSA) to test motorists for
Driving Under the Influence are far from the accurate and reliable
indicators of a person's level of sobriety that law enforcement officials
would have you believe.
The test used today by law enforcement were originally evaluated and
developed based upon a 1977 study. This study tested individuals
with Blood Alcohol Contents (BAC's) ranging from zero to .15. Even
with such a great disparity between the subjects, after putting the
subjects through the SFST's the researchers found a 47 percent error rate.
That is, almost half of the subjects were
misidentified by Police Officers as being intoxicated when
they were not.
In 1981 a further study was conducted. In this study, the BAC
distribution of individuals was revised so as to reflect more subjects
with BAC's lower than .05 and more with BAC's closer to .15. Not
surprisingly the false arrest percentage went down to 32 percent.
This is still a very high percentage.
Moreover, the designers of the tests have conceded that one's inability to
perform the Walk and Turn Test,
One Leg Stand Test or Horizontal Gaze
Nystagmus Test have nothing to do with a person's ability to drive.
In fact, one of the researchers who developed the SFST's conceded that it
is not possible to measure a person's driving ability based upon SFST's
performance.
Most importantly, SFST's are divided attention tests, and anything that
effects a person's ability to concentrate will ultimately effect a
person's ability to perform the tests. One can hardly imagine a more
disconcerting experience than being on the side of the road in the morning
attempting to perform SFST's with a Police Officer hovering over you,
flashing police lights in your face, and cars passing by you as you
attempt to perform tasks that on your best day, under virtually no
pressure, you could not perform to the Police Officer's satisfaction.
Another problem with SFST's is that they require a subject to perform
tasks that are not normal. For example, how many of us on a daily
basis have the occasion to walk a straight-line heel to toe, while
counting out loud, and with our arms at our side, or holding one foot six
inches off the ground, arms at our side, while counting to 30 by one
thousandths. By asking a suspect to perform these tasks which are
not normal, and then judging him on how well he performs these tasks, even
though they have never seen him perform these tasks before, the Police in
essence are virtually guaranteeing a built in failure. A more
troubling fact is that in essence the Police are making determinations and
grading a suspect as to how he or she would perform normally on these
tests when in reality they do not know.
Complete the
FREE DUI Arrest Evaluation,
and Mr. Athen will contact you within one business day to discuss your
case.
While some law firms substitute attorneys,
(imagine walking into court to see someone that you have never
met there to represent you!) when you hire
Scott Athen to represent you in court, you get Scott Athen!
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