Holiday and family celebrations in New Jersey often include alcoholic beverages. If you partake and then decide to drive home, there may be serious repercussions if law enforcement pulls you over. Driving while intoxicated is against the law. At The Law Offices of Anthony N. Palumbo, we often represent clients facing DWI charges.
According to Alcohol.org, police officers may choose to administer a field sobriety test if they suspect you are driving under the influence. This test, composed of three parts, determines whether you pose a risk to others on the roadway. Experts believe these tests measure your ability to handle the type of divided attention used to control the car and pay attention to other vehicles and obstacles on the road.
During the walk-and-turn portion of the test, a driver must take nine heel-to-toe steps in a straight line, then turn and take nine more. Officers pay attention to several factors, such as the ability to maintain balance during the instructions if you begin before instructions are finished and the turn is incorrect.
The one-leg stand test requires that you stand on one foot, while the other is six inches off the ground, for 30 seconds. Hopping or swaying while trying to keep your balance are two of the impairment indicators.
Officers administering the horizontal gaze nystagmus test move their hands side-to-side and ask the driver to follow the hand motion with their eyes. If the eyes jerk or cannot track the movement smoothly, the driver doesn’t pass the test.
Although standardized, and officers receive training to administer them correctly, no test is 100 percent accurate. Medical issues, the administration conditions, such as weather and uneven surfaces as well as other circumstances may render the test results inadmissible in court. Visit our webpage for more information on this topic.
