Field Sobriety Tests
Unlike blood alcohol content or breath tests, field sobriety tests are voluntary in most states, meaning that in most states, you can decline to take one. For most people, the concern about field sobriety tests happens later, when you've been charged with a DUI.
After a DUI charge, the key is to determine whether or not the field sobriety tests as administered are valid evidence. These tests are usually used when a person is stopped on the suspicion of drinking and driving or at DUI checkpoints.
If you were pulled over and administered a field sobriety test and want more information on your rights and how you may fight these charges, speak with a local DUI lawyer. For a free case evaluation with a local attorney, complete the free form on this page.
Drunk Driving Tests: Types of Field Sobriety Tests
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration created a standardized model for field sobriety testing in 1981. The Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) uses three tests in combination, and the NHTSA recommends that all law enforcement agencies use this standardized program and the associated training.
This standardized testing system - a system that NHTSA has deemed the most reliable of the available field tests - can be a DUI defense in an area where the standardized tests aren't used.
Even where the standardized test is used, there may be some errors in the test. The SFST was designed to help officers measure the appropriateness of making a DUI arrest, not as evidence to prove that a driver was intoxicated.
According to 1998 data from the NHTSA, the combination of three tests used together was only accurate in 91% of DUI cases. The arresting officer is wrong in 9 out of every 100 field sobriety tests - and those were the rates for the officers who volunteered DUI arrest records.
Not all officers who use the SFST as a preliminary DUI assessment have been properly trained to administer and interpret the test. Accurate administration of the three tests according to NHTSA procedures requires that an officer follow strict guidelines. All three tests must be administered under certain conditions.
If you are facing DUI charges, speak with a local DUI attorney to see if the field sobriety tests you took can be challenged. Get advice from a DUI attorney about how to handle the DUI charges you may be facing by calling 877-349-1311 or filling out a free DUI case evaluation form.
Learn more about field sobriety tests:
When field sobriety tests may not have significant impact on a DUI case if the tests are used only as a tool to help an officer decide whether further action is required. Field sobriety tests can become a critical piece of evidence in a DUI case when a BAC or breath test was refused or the test has been found to be unreliable and suppressed. In those cases, the guidelines set for test administration may provide the support your DUI attorney needs to weaken or even exclude the field sobriety test results.
Some DUI courts may admit field sobriety tests that were administered imperfectly and let the DUI attorney argue the inaccuracy. Other DUI courts have ruled tests not administered according to the NHTSA training are inherently unreliable and excluded as evidence.
The above summary of field sobriety tests is by no means all-inclusive and is not legal advice. Laws may have changed since our last update. For the latest information on DUI laws, speak to a local DUI lawyer in your state.