Atlanta, you don't have to do the field tests

As I've said before, arresting officers use the standard field tests to make a n "arrest decision," not to scientifically determine if someone is over the limit.  If a person "passes" these tests, it persuades the officer that the person hasn't had too much to drink. If a person "fails," it persuades the officer to administer a breath test. In many cases, even if a person doesn't blow over the limit, the officer will still arrest that person based on the fact that he or she "failed" a field test.

How reliable are field tests?

How reliable are these tests? According to research both old and new, these tests are not reliable in the slightest.  The latest review of the science behind field tests finds that officers are terrible at using the tests to determine if someone has had too much to drink. That is right-they're terrible at it. Despite training, despite years of experience, these tests difficult for officers to use in the way we expect them to be used. They are easy to fail and, even worse, easy for seasoned alcoholics to pass.  One reason for this of course, is that .08% BAC isn't a magic number. Not everyone who is at or a little above .08% exhibits signs that someone who is really intoxicated normally shows. A BAC of .08% is fairly low, and these tests don't work particularly well at such low levels. Physical dexterity tests such as

• slurred speech
• stumbling
• finger to nose test
• standings on one leg

simply aren't useful unless the driver is at about .15%. That is someone who's had a serious amount to drink.

Is the Nystagmus test reliable?

The only test that does show some signs of promise is the Gaze Nystagmus test, which looks for jerky eye movements as one follows a smoothly moving object. This is the most difficult to administer (especially when it's dark), but does the best job of showing someone who is probably over the limit but not super drunk.  So why do we use these tests at all? So we can railroad a person into taking a breath test. It's time to do away with these subjective tests and find something that is a great deal more reliable.

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