If you can’t remember the alphabet, your education has failed you big time.
It’s a trick. If you say I couldn’t do that when sober, you failed
Do some countries really use dumb tests like this to enforce DUI laws? What?
Absolutely, you’ve never fallen down the youtube body cam footage rabbit hole?
No? This all sounds so weird to me. Breathalyzers exist.
Breathalyzers only work for alcohol
I thought this was a movie thing. Don’t you have breath analyzers for real?
They have to have probable cause to arrest you (and then do a breathalyzer).
Breathalyzers are for if you want to find out if someone is actually intoxicated.
Field sobriety tests are for when you want to arrest someone who isn’t intoxicated.
Not every officer has one and they can only determine if someone was under the influence of alcohol but not other substances
- get each traffic cop one 2) there are similar devices for the rapid testing of drugs as well
Actually, no, there aren’t. As of this moment, there’s no way to know if you’re intoxicated by marijuana, and, since that’s legal in a number of US states, that’s a ‘problem’. (Although, let’s be real, stoned people tend to drive reeeeeeaaaaaalllllllllly slowly, not exactly hugely dangerous.) You can detect the metabolites with a urine or blood test, but that doesn’t tell you how long ago you used it, or if you’re still under the influence.
I don’t think they’re interested in making it more difficult to arrest and charge people.
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I think they would if they could
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Field drug tests are not admissible in courts in most states
If they could? They have tanks, for fucks sake. They don’t lack resources.
The only reason for bullshit tests is that the cop gets to feel powerful deciding himself instead of a specific measurement by a calibrated instrument.
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The cop will have one more piece of evidence to arrest you on. No dwi is made solely on you failing a single test, the judge would laugh their ass off for that. But when you tell one, “he was swerving across multiple lanes, smelled of alcoholic beverages, couldn’t say the alphabet starting at e and ending at t, had XXX nystagmus (there’s like three types they check for), did PZY clues on the walk and turn test, and admitted he had been at the bar an ‘hour or so ago,’” they suddenly have a very different conception of what failing to remember the alphabet means.
Remember, don’t answer any questions on a traffic stop, kiddos. It’s always shut the fuck up friday. ALSO, fuck people who drive drunk, but mostly don’t give cops the time of day if they ask, much less any other info.
Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
I still don’t get why the US sobriety tests are admissible by a judge. cops can just run a breathalyser test (or even a drug test), it’s faster than all these weird test and more reliable.
If your going to arrest someone anyway , you can even get a blood/urine sample for a lab-grade drug search.
The blood/urine/breath samples come AFTER the arrest. At least where I live, blood needs a warrant, which they aren’t getting without enough ‘evidence’ to convince a judge. Hence the roadside sobriety tests. They can take a breath sample because the law requires that you give one if you have a driver’s license (it’s part of all the legal paperwork you sign when you get one), but you can’t really force someone to give a breath sample because it’s not a simple thing.
The breathalyzer and blood are definitive tests, but they aren’t needed for the arrest or the conviction. A cop that I know said the best cases were the ones where he stood a driver in front of his car’s camera for about five seconds and you can see them visibly fall over or stumble while just trying to stand there. Criminal cases are always about convincing a jury, and that means that ‘evidence’ like a car swerving on the highway, the smell of alcoholic beverages, the field sobriety tests, the general appearance or manner of the driver, the statements made, etc., all matter.
It depends on the state; you aren’t required to take a breathalyzer in all states, nor are your required to submit to field sobriety tests in all states, although refusal can have different results depending on the state. It would be best to check the laws in your state. source
According to the link you provided, every US state has implied consent laws which trigger an automatic DL suspension if you refuse a breathalyzer.
In the UK refusal to submit to a breathalyser is grounds for arrest, as is the case in most of Europe.
A sobriety test will never be as accurate or as quick. Its also influenced by the officer’s own prejudices, regardless of how good at judging them the cop thinks they are
I agree with never taking to cops. But if a cop says you’re doing a sobriety test, you don’t have a choice. Either do it or get suspended for a year. And they don’t need a reason, all they have to do is say you were swerving or you smell like alcohol
But if a cop says you’re doing a sobriety test, you don’t have a choice.
Not correct. Field sobriety tests are ‘voluntary’ in all states in the US, although refusing to take one may be used as evidence against you in a trial, depending on the state. Likewise, you can refuse breathalyzer tests, although that may carry significant civil penalties.
Did you even read my comment. I literally said refusing to do a test gets your license suspended for a year in most states. If you don’t do the sobriety test, the cop will most certainly ask you to do a chemical test, breath or blood, and refusing will get you a suspension.
The land of the free, everyone.
I prefer this over having drunk idiots all over the road tbh.
Actual question, how do I not answer any questions? I feel like if I’m literally mute for the entire encounter then I’m getting charged for not cooperating.
You should verbally indicate that you don’t wish to answer questions rather than staying totally silent. That said, there are circumstances where cooperating can make your life easier if you’re able to easily and clearly dispel the officer’s suspicion, though this is highly dependent on situation and the specific cop you’re dealing with. If you are doing something wrong the best thing is always to stfu.
https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=uqo5RYOp4nQ
They explain it better than I can.
I have a paranoid fear that some day I will be required to write an ampersand…
I think a field sobriety test usually involves more then one test, at least if you can communicate a reasonable reason why you may fail one.
I believe they may also just look at your behaviour during the interaction.
“Couldn’t walk a straight line but mentioned a recent leg surgery”
Vs
“Couldn’t walk a straight line but believed they did, started an argument about it. Failed secondary test while continuing to insist they passed the first test”
There’s a clear difference between someone who’s drunk screwing up the alphabet, slurring, can’t keep their eyes open, getting distracted, arguing with the cop, unbalanced, and someone just not really remembering the alphabet. If you’re taking a field sobriety test, they’re not really grading your knowledge of the alphabet, they’re looking for signs of intoxication. If after all the tests (walk and turn, balance on one leg, looking at the horizon) the cop is still suspicious, you might do a breathalyzer, or be arrested and brought in for a blood test.
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