Field Sobriety Tests for DUI

A Trusted California DUI Defense Lawyers

A field sobriety test is a test conducted “on the field,” meaning, on the road or public thoroughfare for the purpose of conducting a DUI investigation. The officer administrating the test is trying to gauge whether or not you are intoxicated. Only some of these tests are approved by the National Highway Transportation Agency (NHTSA).

If you are pulled over and asked to take field sobriety tests to prove that you are not intoxicated, you need a DUI defense attorney to represent you. Whether or not you are convicted can depend on the quality of your representation.

A few examples of common approved field sobriety tests include:

• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) test (which gauges eye movement)
• Walk and Turn Test
• One Legged Stand

A few examples of tests which are not standardized, but used by police include:

• Alphabet test
• Counting fingers
• Finger-to-nose
• Hand-pat
• Rhomberg Test

Our firm has successfully attacked these tests in thousands of cases, leading to favorable outcomes including dismissal, acquittal, and pretrial reduction or dismissal of DUI charges.

Extraneous Factors Affecting FST

Unfortunately, even if you are sober, a field test could lead an officer to falsely believe you were intoxicated. These tests are far from scientific and there are many environmental and other factors which could affect the result of the test. A few of these factors include weather, surface you are standing on, roadside turbulence, shoewear or clothing, and any physical, physiological, medical, and mental, disability or condition.

Our DUI defense attorneys are meticulous at looking at these factors. We have investigators who can go out to the scene and investigate the site of the DUI arrest and FSTs to determine if there are any grounds to challenge the prosecutor’s allegation of poor FST performance.