Many people think they actually passed the field sobriety tests before they were arrested! The problem is, most people who are taking the field sobriety tests are inexperienced in taking the tests and accordingly, have no idea what the officer is looking for. If the officer checks your eyes, simply being able to follow the pen (or their finger) doesn’t mean you passed the test.

No. There are no legal consequences to refuse DWI DUI sobriety tests in Texas law. You are never required to prove you are NOT committing a crime. At worst, the government will try to use your refusal as evidence that you thought you were DWI DUI if your DWI DUI case goes to trial. No one should ever attempt these tests without first consulting a DWI DUI lawyer for advice.

Absolutely not. You never have to prove to an officer or anyone that you are not committing a crime. The law presumes you are innocent until the police can prove that a crime has occurred. Most officers will probably arrest you anyway, but if you agree to take these balance tests and you do not perform perfectly, you will likely be arrested anyway, and then your imperfect DWI DUI test performance will be used in court to try to prove you were DWI DUI.

Police officers designed the DWI DUI sobriety tests. The DWI DUI tests were not designed by doctors, or physical therapists, or toxicologists, but street cops. Almost all of the DWI DUI sobriety tests place the subject in an unbalanced or unnatural position and if the person demonstrates virtually any imperfection in balance, they are held by the officer to be "impaired." The eye test officers give is not a test to see if the pen can be followed.

There is no legal requirement to take any field sobriety tests and as such, you should never take them. These are subjective tests that are only 65%-77% correct when administered in perfect conditions, administered exactly as designed and evaluated impartially. The Officer ALREADY THINKS YOU ARE INTOXICATED—why else would they request you take the test? An officer who already is biased against you is the one who will be ‘grading’ your performance.

Washington Appellate courts have consistently said that field sobriety tests can not be compelled, and for their results to be admissible at trial they must be voluntary and not the result of coercion. However, one Appellate court has said that the refusal of an individual to perform to voluntarily perform field sobriety tests could be admissible at trial.

If performed in a controlled environment by a skilled officer who administers the tests in the proscribed manner, the tests can be an indication of intoxication. However, this is rarely done. The initial research conducted by the National Highway traffic Administration concluded the pen test (Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus) is 77% accurate, the Walk and Turn test is 68% accurate, and the One Leg Stand test is 65% accurate only when administered in the prescribed, standardized manner.

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The gymnastics that you were asked to perform on the side of the road under abnormal conditions were not designed to objectively determine whether you were in fact impaired by alcohol. Police and prosecutors use them to collect evidence against you. They cannot be passed. They are judged by negative scoring; thus, you get no credit for doing things correctly. You can do a test perfectly and still fail the test because the Officer thought you performed in a "slow deliberate manner.

You are not required by law to take field sobriety tests, and many of the tests are extremely difficult even for people who have not been drinking. It is therefore adviseable to politely refuse an officer's request for field sobriety tests. You should make it clear, however, that you are only refusing the field sobriety tests and not refusing to take a breath or blood test.

Every single DUI case is different, but as a general rule, it is almost always better to take the test in Oklahoma. However, if you have several convictions for DUI and fail time is more of the concern versus saving your Oklahoma driver's license, then you should not take the test unless you think you will pass it.

Refusal to comply with roadside tests can serve as a basis for arrest. However, a police officer can only ask that a person submit to roadside tests, commonly referred to as field sobriety tests and preliminary breath tests (PBT), if they have a reasonable suspicion to believe a person has been driving while intoxicated. Examples or reasons to request field sobriety tests include red and/or watery eyes, slurred speech, confusion, and/or the smell of alcohol.

In each of the roadside tests there is an instruction stage and a performance stage. The purpose of this two-stage test is to confuse a person who is intoxicated. The reason is that a person under the influence is generally unable to handle multitasking. Obviously the tests are subjective and open for interpretation. Examples of the field sobriety tests include: One Leg Stand: An officer will explain and demonstrate the test. The subject will stand with his/her feet together, arms at the side.

Unlike the chemical tests, where refusal to submit may have serious consequences, (a civil infraction and driver's license confiscation), you are not legally required to take any FSTs. Remember you are not required to provide evidence against yourself (your 5th Amendment rights). But anything you do or say MAY be used against you. In reality the Police Officer may have already made up their minds to arrest you when they ask you perform the Field Sobriety Tests.

Field Sobriety Tests (FSTs) are a series of standardized tests designed to determine if someone is impaired by intoxicants. Typically three are given: The Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) (an eye test), the Walk and Turn (WAT), and the One Legged Stand (OLS). The ability to perform these tests varies wildly from one person to the next, and your failure on one or even all of these tests does not mean that you are necessarily guilty of DUII.