Monday, November 14, 2011

Sobriety Testing

If you find you have consumed too much alcohol to drive, but decide to do so, be prepared to pass these three tests according to the Akron Police Department:
The One Leg Stand-First the police officer will ask you to stand with your feet together, arms at your side and to not move out of this position. One foot is raised approximately 6 inches from the ground and pointed. You will be instructed to look at your raised food and count aloud, "One thousand and one, one thousand and two" etc. The officer times you for roughly 30 seconds and looks for 4 cues: Swaying, using your arms for balance, hopping, or putting your foot down. If you are wearing heals, you have the option to remove your shoes. You are also not required to take this test if you are over the age of 65 and 50 pounds over weight.
The Walk and Turn- Walking in straight line, an officer will have you place one foot directly infront of the other heel touching toe. The amount of steps taken is typically nine. When doing this, keep your hands at your sides and watch your feet. There are 8 cues for this test: Can't balance during instructions, starting too soon, stopping, missing heel to toe touch by more than 1/2 an inch, stepping off line, using your arms for balance, turning incorrectly and taking the wrong number of steps.
Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus- Also called "the pen test" this test judges the amount of involuntary movement in your eyes. When the eye muscles are strained, especially looking to the corners, the muscle becomes strained and shakes involuntarily. During this test, the officer will check to make sure your eyes do not have this movement and that you do not move your head as well. Each hold lasts roughly 4 seconds.
Field sobriety tests are always voluntary, though an officer may not tell you this, keep it in mind.
The point of this is not to train you in sobriety testing but to raise awareness to the right that these are voluntary.

This video shows a comical performance of field sobriety test.

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