Do I Have to Take a Field Sobriety Test?
Did you know that law enforcement cannot force you to submit to field sobriety tests?
Police officers are trained to put you through three standard field sobriety tests if they believe you may be driving while intoxicated:
- The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, involves officers looking for a jerking motion in your eyes that law enforcement are trained to believe is a sign of intoxication.
- The Walk and Turn test has you walk nine steps back and forth down a line (real or imaginary) while the officer looks for mistakes or “clues,” such as not touching your heel to your toe on each step, stepping off the line, using arms for balance, etc.
- The third test, the One Leg Stand test, has you stand on one leg for thirty seconds.
Again, the officer is looking for mistakes or “clues” such as using arms for balance, hopping, or putting your foot down. The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test is, to say the least, controversial in its alleged accuracy in showing you may be intoxicated. Further, it must be administered in a precise manner to even be admissible in court under Texas law. The Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand tests are something you have probably never done before and now you are being asked to perform them under very stressful circumstances.
It takes few “clues” or mistakes for the officer based on his training, to believe you are intoxicated. In my experience, nearly everyone makes mistakes while attempting to perform these tests, whether they are intoxicated or not.
When an officer asks you to perform these tests, you can politely and respectfully say no. Some people respond to this advice by saying, “Well, then I will be arrested because I didn’t do the tests.” You may be. But if the officer got you out of your vehicle for the field tests, he probably already believes you are driving while intoxicated.
Further, if the officer does arrest you after you have refused these field sobriety tests, then they are saying, by their actions, that they had probable cause to arrest you based on the, probably minimal, evidence they have already observed.
