| We've all seen them. On television, in the movies, on | | | | haven't been drinking you should be able to pass them |
| the internet, and sometimes even in person. Field | | | | right (even though in Seattle and Kirkland and |
| sobriety tests. We are made to believe they let police | | | | everywhere else in Washington State you can refuse |
| officers know the average Joe is too drunk to drive | | | | to take field sobriety tests as part of your |
| his car. Typical tests include horizontal gaze | | | | constitutional right to remain silent). |
| nystagmus (otherwise known as HGN), walk and turn, | | | | He asks you to conduct three tests: the walk and turn, |
| one leg stand, counting backwords, touch your nose, | | | | the one leg stand, and the horizontal gaze nystagmus |
| and say the alphabet. If you've never seen a police | | | | tests. You comply and do your best, and he lets you |
| officer give the tests, you probably performed them in | | | | know that you are under arrest for DUI and need to |
| college at a fraternity party. But what do they really | | | | come down to the station for a breath test! How did |
| show? Read on to find out, not a whole lot. | | | | this happen? There are a couple of reasons. First, the |
| To hear a police officer tell it, the failure of field | | | | officer has a predisposition to assume you are drunk. |
| sobriety tests is concrete evidence that someone is | | | | He is, after all, a police officer. He wouldn't ask you to |
| too drunk to drive. If you can't walk nine steps heel to | | | | take the field sobriety tests unless he already had |
| toe and turn around and take nine more steps you | | | | some suspicion that you were drunk driving. Second, |
| must be drunk, right? Wrong. In reality field sobriety | | | | even if you do all the tests stone cold sober, there is |
| tests tell police officers one thing - the probability that | | | | about a 17% chance that you will have been found to |
| someone is too drunk to drive - and this is only if the | | | | have failed! And that is under ideal testing conditions! |
| tests are performed under ideal testing conditions. Let | | | | Tests conducted using field sobriety tests found that |
| me give you an example. | | | | the walk and turn tests showed a correct assessment |
| Let's say you are driving around in Seattle, Washington, | | | | 75% of the time, the one leg stand 75% of the time, |
| minding your own business. It is late at night and you | | | | and the HGN 81% of the time. If you did all three |
| get lost, end up on the 520 bridge, and end up trying to | | | | together, you were likely to correctly assess whether |
| turn around in Kirkland. At that time a Kirkland police | | | | or not someone was actually too drunk to drive only |
| officer pulls you over for failing to turn in a perfect half | | | | 83% of the time. This is why they have the breath test |
| circle (or some other arbitrary violation) and asks if | | | | (whose accuracy is also questioned, though, admittedly |
| you've had anything to drink. Because you haven't you | | | | with a different type of error and error rate) - field |
| respond in the negative. This is when the officer asks | | | | sobriety tests really don't work that good at all. |
| you to take the field sobriety tests - I mean, if you | | | | |