Purpose of the Field Sobriety Test

The field sobriety test, like the traffic stop itself, cannot be conducted on a whim. The officer must have reasonable suspicion that a driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. That’s the only time a police officer should ask a driver to exit the car for a field sobriety test. Even if the driver admits to drinking, if the amount is small and he or she is not displaying behavior consistent with an intoxicated person, he or she should not be asked to take a field sobriety test or other type of test like breath or blood tests.

Evidence of Intoxication

If you’re asked to take a field sobriety test or other test when there’s no evidence of intoxication, that’s a violation of your constitutional rights. Evidence that could lead an officer to believe you’re intoxicated includes:

• A strong alcohol smell
• Slurred or confused speech
• The driver’s inability to find his or her driver’s license or other information
• The driver’s inability to answer questions consistently
• Other signs of drunkenness or impairment

With any of these signs present, the officer is within the law by asking the driver to take a field sobriety test.

Why Field Sobriety Tests are Used

When an officer suspects a driver of being in violation of the law—with a blood alcohol level that’s higher than the legal limit—the driver will be asked to step out of the car to take a field sobriety test. The purpose of this is to have a standard method for gathering evidence to allow the officer to administer a blood or breath test to determine the driver’s blood alcohol level.

The field sobriety test is a way of determining if the driver really is impaired. Failing a field sobriety test gives the officer probable cause to believe the driver can’t safely drive, so then a blood or breath test can be legally given to establish that the driver is over the legal limit.

Blood and Breath Tests

Once the field sobriety test has been given and the driver has done poorly, the officer now has probable cause. The arrest can be made and the driver can be asked to submit to a blood, breath or even a urine test to determine his or her blood alcohol level. This is a crucial step in the process for the police, because the hard evidence of the blood alcohol level is something that’s very rarely disputed.

If a field sobriety test weren’t necessary and an officer could ask anyone to submit to such a test, it would be a violation of a driver’s constitutional rights and would be done based on other factors than actual appearance of intoxication such as location (if a person just left a bar, for instance) and other factors.

Because driving after drinking is not illegal, only driving when your blood alcohol level goes over a certain point is illegal, the field sobriety test sets a benchmark to show the likelihood that someone’s drunk.

Contact one of our experienced drunk driving lawyers in your area today!