Nobody Passes
Field Sobriety Tests
EVER
Why? Because there is no “pass” or “fail.”
The Tests:
The Standard Field Sobriety Tests were designed by the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration (NHTSA) and “validated” by studies that allegedly prove that poor performance on these tests indicates a blood alcohol level over 0.10 (which was the most common limit at the time — now, it’s 0.08, but they haven’t changed the tests).
The validation studies are bogus, however, because the subjects the tests were validated on were mostly healthy young men in comfortable testing rooms, not old people, women, people with back problems, or anyone standing on the side of the road with a cop screaming at them and semis roaring past.
- Walk and Turn: Take nine heel to toe steps along a line (often an imaginary line, that the cop is imagining, not you!). This test has eight “clues.” Each time you show a clue, the cop marks it. Two of these “clues” are officer observations of your conduct before you even start walking the imaginary line!
- One-Leg Stand: Stand on one leg for thirty seconds. This test has four “clues.”
- Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus: Follow a stimulus (usually a finger or a pen) with your eyes without moving your head. The eyes will “jerk” involuntarily if you have nystagmus. A blood alcohol content of 0.10 or higher is one cause of horizontal nystagmus. This test has six “clues” (three per eye): lack of smooth tracking, nystagmus noticed at maximum deviation, and onset of nystagmus prior to 45 degrees.
The officer administering the tests makes marks on a score sheet every time he or she observes a clue. Each mark is more proof to support probable cause. Two examples of score sheets are posted below.
No particular number of marks indicates a fail. Instead, each and every mark indicates one (or one more) indication of impairment. Then those marks, whether one or twenty, are included among other factors (bloodshot, watery eyes, the odor of alcohol, slurred speech) in a “totality of the circumstances” assessment of whether the officer had probable cause to arrest you.
Here’s the Secret: Don’t take them!
You don’t have to stand on one leg, follow a finger with your eyes, or walk an imaginary line.
You don’t have to blow in the PBT, the roadside breath test.
And you are not going to perform your way out of an arrest.
I performed the tests against my will and the officer let me go. I detested taking the FST and the offer told me I had to anyways. I want to sue the department for violating my rights. I wasn’t drinking but the offer said he smelled alcohol. I was driving my wife home on her birthday who did have a few drinks. Did the offer have probable cause to pull me from my vehicle?