Field Sobriety Tests have a bad reputation here in Florida that they are not really reliable indication that a person had been drinking before driving. Are there any kind of field of sobriety test that has been validated and has there been any guidelines that have been set up to administer these tests?

Eileen

Carol City, FL

Field sobriety tests (FST’s) are divided attention tasks which are designed to assess mental and physical capabilities a person needs to safely drive a car. FST’s include short-term memory, information processing, balance, steady and sure reactions, coordination of limbs, judgment and decision making, small muscle control and clear vision. A good FST would combine any two or more of these capabilities simultaneously. It is said that it would be reasonably simple for the average non-intoxicated person to perform the FST’s.

There are three FST’s that have been validated as reliable indicators of intoxication by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) and guidelines have also been set up to make these tests more accurate, but still, they are not 100% accurate. Police officers in Carol City, Florida commonly use these three tests which are called standardized FST’s to people who are suspected for DUI. These tests consist of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus tests, Walk & Turn test, and the One Leg Stand test.

I know that my sister’s DUI charge in Southwest Orange, Florida is something that she has to be serious about. I’ve read that the breath test is not 100% accurate and I have my own thoughts about it. How can we exclude the results of the breath test as evidence on her case?

Daphne

Southwest Orange, FL

The use of breathalyzers such as the intoxilyzer to measure one’s blood alcohol content has been widely criticized since law enforcement has utilized the device in an effort to seek convictions for those suspected of DUI. Because of that, a lot of safety measures have been put into place to minimize the number of innocent people who are being convicted. There are a lot of reasons that the court could rule in favor of excluding the results of the breath test in your sister’s DUI case in Southwest Orange, Florida.

The breath test machine needs to be maintained and serviced regularly to ensure accurate results. If it is not calibrated or serviced, that could be a ground for suppression of evidence. Likewise, if the officer did not observe your sister for a period of 20 minutes before administering the breath test, the results may be excluded. If the one who carried out the test is not properly certified and not current with his/her educational requirements, this would constitute a failure of legal procedure and any results acquired should be excluded from the evidence.

We were driving home the other night when a police officer asked us to stop. I was the one behind the wheel and I was asked some questions related to drunk driving. I wasn’t detained because clearly, I was not drunk nor consume any amount of alcohol. But I want to know, are these Florida DUI checkpoints legal?

Spencer

Pembroke Pines, FL

Generally, the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures. This includes protecting citizens from being stopped without a search warrant and requires, at a minimum, that a police officer have a probable cause or reasonable suspicion to briefly detain a citizen to investigate his suspicion that the individual is involved in some illegal conduct.

But there is an exemption to the Fourth Amendment. It is the sobriety checkpoint that is intended to both deter and apprehend drivers operating their vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. The US Supreme Court stated that certain safeguards should be followed to render such stops constitutionally permissible. DUI checkpoints as a measure of curbing drunk driving in Florida are legitimate so long as the police officers manning the checkpoints use a random method of selection which precludes the “probable cause” law, such as stopping every third car, and the delay and inconvenience to drivers is kept to a minimum.

A friend of mine was charged with DUI here in Florida. He had a reading for blood alcohol content which is below the legal limit. Why was he still charged with DUI? Can they really do that?

Anne

Coral Springs, FL

In Florida, drunk driving is becoming a very grave situation where authorities involved in enforcing laws are finding it a very big challenge.

A motorist can be charged with DUI if he/she was stopped while driving with blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 percent. In, Florida you will be penalized for the offense if your BAC is above the legal limit. The current penalties would include fines between from $250 and $1000 depending on whether the offense is the first one or a repeated one. The offender can also have a jail term which is a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 30 years, if vehicular homicide is involved. Vehicles can also be impounded and licenses suspended by the authorities. The court orders a mandatory 50-hour community service for the accused in most of the convictions.

The state of Florida can actually charge you with DUI with a BAC below 0.08 percent. The BAC is determined either by blood or breath test. If you are impaired of have a BAC of above 0.08 percent, you will be charged with DUI. In your friend’s case, he is considered as an impaired driver with a BAC below 0.08 percent. That’s why he was still charged and can be convicted. Impairment is based on the police officer’s of behavior of the driver in general, the Field Sobriety Tests, any video, etc. In other words, any driving after drinking or taking drugs puts anyone at risk for the DUI.