Failure rates of field sobriety tests

If you have experienced the full process of being arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Pennsylvania, you may well not only feel scared but even potentially helpless. You might have taken field sobriety tests as well as breath or blood tests. The results of these tests would all be used in the case against you. However, before you give up hope and assume that there is no way you can fight the charges against you, think again.

FieldSobrietyTests.org clearly explains that the field roadside tests are anything but fully accurate. Of the three tests that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sanctioned for use in these cases, none are said to be accurate all of the time. In fact, the most accurate test is the one that measures your eye’s natural reflex action and this test’s accuracy rate is only 77 percent. When testing your ability to balance on one leg, this test is given an accuracy rate of 65 percent. A an accuracy rate of 68 percent is associated with the walk and turn test.

If you were asked to take all three field sobriety tests, the combined rate of accuracy of these tests increases only to 82 percent, leaving a margin of error that may open the door to a defense potential for you.

If you would like to learn more about the potential inaccuracy of the tests used during a driving under the influence investigation or arrest, please feel free to visit the field sobriety test page of our Pennsylvania drunk driving website.