Comments on: Field Sobriety Test Studies Found to Be Flawed

By: Jacobsen

Jacobsen — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 13:00:22 +0000

I have scene people well above a .200 perform the exercises very well, and people below a .050 unable to perform them at all. Those are the extremes of cases. The SFSTs were established as a norm, and to be applied accordingly. Assuming there is no combination of drug influence, some people’s bodies react differently to an equivalent amount of alcohol in their system.

But remember, an officer is making the decision the arrest based solely on a subject’s performance during these exercises. It’s the totality of the circumstances. The SFSTs are just one piece of the puzzle, a specific color to a painting. I support the research behind both sides, but will lean toward affective and reliable every time.

By: Robert Tager

Robert Tager — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:38:49 +0000

Great article. After 15 years of practice I am convinced that SFSTs are based on junk science and your blog post shows why the science is flawed. It is not hard to tell someone impaired over a .1 or .15 just by observation. SFST are used to snare people that are around a .08 or below. Once these non impaired people are in the system many end up pleading to avoid the “jury trial tax” of jail. I am always amazed at the high blows on people that perform the SFST well. I think the BAC machines are equally based on junk science and hope you write about that soon.

By: DUI-The Constitution Need Not Apply

DUI-The Constitution Need Not Apply — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 04:07:48 +0000

I disagree that the SFSTs are worthless. They are, of course, scientifically unreliable and inaccurate, but that was never the reason for their use. They provide law enforcement with a valuable tool that is subjective, not objective, used to manufacture probable cause to put someone in cuffs and take them to the LEC for a breath test. The SFSTs have made it exponentially easier for police and prosecutors to arrest and convict low (or .00) BAC drivers of DUI. That was the ONLY goal of their development. In that sense, SFSTs have proven to be invaluable.