Know Your Rights!

Roadsides, Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, and the Drunk Tests.

Granted, I talk with people after they have been charged with Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Drugs, or Both (DUI or DUID) in Colorado, so people do not come and talk with me I who have been released by law enforcement after taking the roadsides.

What I have noticed about DUI cases are the creative ways in which law enforcement officers encourage drivers to submit to the Roadside tests, also called the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST). These are tests designed by the government (National Highway Traffic and Safety Transportation, NHTSA) to determine whether a driver is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both.

Tests

The names of the three (3) “validated tests” approved by NHTSA are: Horizontal Gaze and Nystagmus Test, the Walk and Turn, and the One Leg Stand. These three tests are supposed to look for indicia of impairment as determined by the U.S. government.

Law enforcement wants you to submit to these three roadside tests as they are a way to collect evidence which will be used against you in the prosecution of your DUI case. The “evidence”, which are observations by the law enforcement officer, are noted and collected by the officer during his or her investigation for a DUI charge. With each test the driver is handing to the government evidence to be used against him or her in their DUI case.

What Law Enforcement Says To Trick You

Below are some approaches to watch out for when stopped by law enforcement.

When you are stopped, the officer asks you:

Officer: “How much have you had to drink tonight?”

Note: You do not have to answer. Just say, “Officer, I have nothing to say.”

Driver: Thinks he has to be honest and tells the officer he has had “2 beers”.

Note: You have no duty to talk to law enforcement. You must give the officer your Insurance, Registration, and Driver’s License. That is it.

When asked “Where are you coming from?”, say, “Officer, I have nothing to say.” You never want to lie to an officer as that will come back to bite you. You though, do NOT have to answer his or her questions. Just be polite. All of these questions are designed to gather information from you, to prosecute you.

When the officer asks you to submit/perform roadside tests so he/she can see if you are “safe to drive”:

Officer: “Well I would like for you to do a few tests so I can make sure you are safe to drive”

Note: Officer does not tell the driver that the roadside tests are “voluntary”.

There is absolutely nothing in the law that will harm you in the court system or at DMV if you refuse to perform the roadsides. They are truly voluntary and there are no consequences if you do not do them. Period. The threat of jail is what law enforcement often use to scare the person into performing the tests; then they arrest you.

Driver: “Well officer, I do not understand the tests and would like to consult with an attorney before I do them.” OR “Officer, I do not want to submit.”

Officer: “Well, if you do not do the tests then I will have to arrest you.” OR “Well, if you do not do the tests I will have to take you to jail.”

Note: This threat of arrest and/or jail is usually all that is needed to get the person to submit to the roadside testing. Again, these tests are voluntary and nothing legally will happen to you should you decline them.

What you don’t know is, if the officer is telling you he or she may arrest you or take you to jail……..the officer then has already decided that they are going to arrest you (or “take you to jail” or “arrest you”) if you do not submit to the roadsides, then that means that the officer wants to scare you that he or she has enough Probable Cause to arrest. If that is true, then all of these tests will just be used to strengthen his/her evidence against you.

If the officer really does NOT have enough Probable Cause to arrest you, and he/she is trying to scare you into performing the roadsides……you won’t know that. If the officer is asking for the roadsides and NOT telling you they are voluntary and using the threat of jail……..then, it seems like he/she is just gathering the “evidence” to arrest you and prosecute you.