Reader’s Question:

Field Sobriety Tests have a bad reputation here in Carol City, 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.

Tags: drunk driving laws, DUI, DUI lawyer, field sobriety tests