If you have been arrested for an impaired driving offense in Connecticut, you may have been asked to participate in field sobriety tests by officers. As explained by FieldSobrietyTests.org, these tests are sanctioned by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are are used by law enforcement to provide them with probable cause to arrest you for drunk driving.
Field sobriety tests are by no means 100-percent accurate. In fact, one of the tests called the walk-and-turn test has an accuracy rate of only 66 percent. In this test, your balance as well as your ability to remember details and execute multiple actions simultaneously are all put to the test. It should be noted that when you are asked to take these tests, you are most likely very scared and nervous on top of it all.
When watching you perform this test, officers can use several things to support their probably cause. These include you using your arms to maintain your balance, stepping off of the real or imaginary line upon which you are walking and even pausing for a moment as you take steps. Taking more or less than the requested nine steps, failing to maintain a strict heel-to-toe pattern and even failing to maintain your balance while being given instructions for the test may be used against you.
If you would like to learn more about the walk-and-turn test as part of a drunk driving arrest, please feel free to visit the field sobriety test page of our Connecticut criminal defense website.
