Conducting Your Own Sobriety Test

Conducting your own Sobriety Test

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Conducting your own Sobriety Test

Introduction

A Field Sobriety Test helps determine if a person is under the influence of alcohol. Driving while under the influence is a severe offense in which countless drivers are arrested in the United States. Having to conduct a field sobriety test on my own would help me understand the standardized tests that are conducted. Moreover, it would evaluate the ability of a police officer to perform these tests and find issues concerning these tests that can determine if a person is or not driving under the influence (DUI). The allowed Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) level in the United States is below .080 which makes three drinks approximately. The purpose of this assignment is to conduct mock FSTs and then explain in court what it means to be driving under the influence. It would consist of various cases which are documented concerning this law and the sobriety tests that are performed to ensure if the person is critically impaired by alcohol or not.

Discussion

Identification

The first test which I would be performing would be by asking the suspect to walk in a street line. This tests evaluate the person's sight and concentration and determine whether they are DUI. If the person is unable to walk straight with hands side by side and keeps on tangling from one side to another, this would mean that the person is DUI. The second test which I would conduct would include taking out a pen and asking the suspect to see the pen and move the head where the pen is being led to. This test helps to understand the person's sight and capability to be agile, and if the person keeps shaking their head in the wrong direction, this would mean that the suspect is DUI. Lastly, using an inhaler method which automatically calculates if the person's BAC is above .080 or not (Haghpanahan et al. 2018).

If the BAC is above that number, that would mean that the suspect is DUI and should be arrested. All of these methods are documented and analyzed in the field before the suspect gets arrested for making this offense. These tests can be provided in court to prove that the person was impaired with alcohol and was DUI (Smith et al. 2016). If a person is DUI, that means they are endangering other people's lives while driving impaired including their own. Law enforcement takes strict and necessary actions against DUI drivers while ensuring these offenses do not occur regularly. However, drunk drivers are still repetitively found on the road, and this requires strict laws against drinking. Moreover, conducting FSTs and assessing the BAC level is also a mandatory part of the whole process. All of this information provides persuasive means of proving that the alleged person was DUI and was excessively endangering other human lives while being reckless and obnoxious.

Conclusion

The aforementioned analysis of the FSTs assess and determine if the suspect is impaired while DUI. However, at times the FST being conducted is not entirely accurate. Thus, this is one of the major weaknesses of using this test in court to prove if the suspect was alcohol impaired. The court admits that these FSTs are designed in such a way which makes it even harder for a sober person. Most officers are also cheating while carrying out these tests for their benefit through which they can either gain money. The demonstrations held in the court allow for a more accurate picture of this law as it talks about these various FSTs and the minimum level of BAC which is permitted in the United States. The BAC is also mentioned in the assignment and might help answer other critical questions.

References

Haghpanahan, H., Lewsey, J., Mackay, D. F., McIntosh, E., Pell, J., Jones, A., ... & Robinson, M. (2018). Evaluating the impact of lowering blood alcohol concentration limits for drivers on road traffic accident rates and alcohol consumption: a natural experiment. Lancet.

Smith, R. C., Robinson, Z., Bazdar, A., & Geller, E. S. (2016). Intervening to decrease the probability of alcohol-impaired driving: Impact of novel field sobriety tests. Journal of prevention & intervention in the community, 44(3), 199-212.