The Standard Field Sobriety Tests, Continued

As we have previously noted, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") advocates the use of three Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) to determine whether a motorist is intoxicated. The three SFSTs are:

• The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
• The Walk and Turn
• The One Leg Stand

This trinity of DWI arrests are used throughout the country by police officers to determine whether a person is driving while intoxicated. However, the key to the vailidity of these tests is whether:

• The tests are administered in the standarized manner as espoused by NHTSA;
• Standarized clues are used to evaluate the suspect's performance; and
• Standarized criteria are used to interpret the performance.

As the NHTSA states, "if any one of the standarized field sobriety test elements is changed, the validity is compromised." In addition, if the conditions are not ideal, or there are deviations from standarized procedures affect the "evidentiary weight" that should be given to the test results.

If you have been charged with DWI, contact a Plano DWI lawyer.