Georgia Field Sobriety Tests

When a police officer pulls someone over on suspicion of driving under the influence in Georgia, he or she will typically ask the driver to perform a series of field sobriety tests. These tests are designed to determine whether or not a driver is impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Law enforcement agents are trained to administer three standardized field sobriety tests that are approved by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). These three tests are known as the Walk and Turn, the One-Leg Stand, and the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus.

There is a category of tests known as divided attention tests. These don’t just test your physical performance; your ability to pay attention and follow directions is being tested as well. The Walk and Turn test falls into this category. For this test, the officer will ask you to take nine heel-to-toe steps forward, turn by pivoting on your front foot, and take nine more steps back, all while counting your steps out loud.

During this test, the officer looks to see if you are unable to follow directions, take steps off of the line, take the wrong number of steps, fail to count out loud, use your arms for balance, or fail to complete the test. If you do two of these things, you can be arrested.

The One-Leg Stand test also falls in the divided attention category. To administer this test, the officer will ask you to raise one of your feet approximately 6 inches of the ground and count out loud until he or she asks you to stop. During the test, you will have to look down, keep your arms by your side, and point your toe while holding it up.

The officer is watching to see if you raise your arms, sway, forget to count, put your foot down, lose balance, or stop too early. Once again, if you do two of these things, you meet the arrest criterion.

The third test is the Horizontal Gaze Nystgamus. This has been shown to be the most reliable of the three tests. Nystgamus is an involuntary jerking of the eyes. Most people experience this naturally, but alcohol makes it more pronounced. The officer will have you follow an object with your eyes to look for this muscle jerking. If he notices a lack of smooth pursuit, distinct and sustained nystagmus, or the onset of nystagmus before 45 degrees, you may be arrested.

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