Field Sobriety Testing

Georgia DUI: Challenging the Field Sobriety Test

Unlike refusing the testing of your breath, blood or urine for the presence of alcohol, refusing to submit to one or all of the field sobriety tests carries no additional penalties. If you recently have been arrested and charged with DUI in Georgia, this information may come too late. But even if you submitted to the field sobriety tests and you supposedly (according to the officer’s subjective opinion) did not perform well on the field sobriety evaluations, there are many critical things that an experienced DUI defense lawyer can do for you. The field sobriety tests were designed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to help police officers estimate a person’s blood alcohol concentration level (BAC) and to facilitate the identification by the officer of persons with a BAC above 0.08. These tests, however, have been used by law enforcement and prosecutors as supposed indicators of driver impairment and are often used in the courtroom by the prosecutors to try to convince a judge or jury that the driver who did not perform well on the field sobriety tests cannot drive safely because he/she consumed too much alcohol. The truth of the matter is that there is no direct, empirical scientific evidence that any of the field sobriety tests in fact can predict driving impairment. Indeed, in this regard, Dr. Marcelline Burns, the senior author of the 1977 and 1981 NHTSA report and study concerning the standardized field sobriety test; the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test; the Walk and Turn (WAT) test and the One-Leg Stand (OLS) test, has stated that the field sobriety tests were not designed to predict driving impairment.

Our law firm represents people who have been arrested for drunk driving in the Atlanta metro area and throughout the state. For a smart and effective defense of your rights today — contact us.

At The Law Offices of Howard J. Weintraub, P.C., our lawyer is not only a former Assistant United States Attorney with more than 30 years of criminal law experience, he also has been certified in the administration of field sobriety tests by NHTSA. As a result, we know how to effectively challenge in court the police officer's testimony concerning the field sobriety tests and the unreliability of these highly subjective tests. Studies have shown that the HGN, Walk and Turn and One-Leg Stand tests have test-retest reliability of 66%, 72% and 61% respectively, with a combined reliability of 77%. This means that 34% of the test results of the HGN, 28% of the test results of the Walk and Turn and 39% of the test results of the One-Leg Stand are problematic and can be attributed to errors in scoring. In this regard, there have been studies involving adults who were completely alcohol free and were evaluated on their performances of the field sobriety tests by police officers who had received standard training in the operation and identification of intoxicated drivers. Although these tests were not done under the pressures associated with actual roadside detention situations, as they involved simulated controlled laboratory studies, 46% of the responses by the police officers indicated that completely sober, alcohol-free persons were supposedly too intoxicated to drive.

• The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) Test — The HGN test is the most reliable field sobriety test when administered correctly and the only one recognized as being acceptable in the scientific community. However, many officers make critical mistakes in administering this test. Even when the test is given properly, there still is a margin of error left to challenge the results.
• The Walk and Turn (WAT) Test — The WAT test is a field sobriety test that measures your ability to physically perform an eighteen step walk and turn task while your attention is divided as you follow the instructions given to you by the officer. How you perform on this psychomotor, divided attention task is dependent in large part upon the subjective opinion of the administering police officer and your results can be influenced by several non-alcohol related factors.
• The One-Leg Stand (OLS) Test — The OLS test is another field sobriety test that is designed to measure your ability to stand on one leg while your attention is divided by counting out loud and following other instructions given to you by the officer. This is the least reliable of the three field sobriety tests approved by NHTSA and again your performance is dependent in large part upon the subjective opinion of the administering police officer. Also, as with the WAT, your results can be influenced by several non-alcohol related factors.

Former Assistant United States Attorney
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