Reader’s Question:

I understand that in Washington, DC, there are three standardized field sobriety tests that police officers often ask a DUI suspect to do but I don’t know how they are being done. Could you give me one example and tell me how it is being carried out?

Dalton

Washington, DC

In Washington, DC, there are three standardized field sobriety tests which are the walk and turn test, horizontal gaze nystagmus test and the one-leg stand. All three of these are approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

During the walk and turn test, the driver would be asked to walk nine heel-to-toe steps along a line then turn at the end and return. This is considered a simple test that anyone should be able to perform without difficulty, except, as they claim, for a person who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. There are two purposes of the walk and turn, one is that the driver should be able to understand simple instructions and the other one is to physically manage the test. The officer takes note if the driver is following instructions as given, can keep his/her balance, stops to adjust balance or loses balance and uses the heel-to-toe method requested, uses the arms to try to keep balanced or does not take the required number of steps. NHTSA studies show that 65% of those who fail two or more of these criteria would be under the influence of drugs or have a blood alcohol content of .08% or greater.

Tags: DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer, field sobriety tests