Field sobriety tests are optional in Riverside DUI / DWI investigations, but police will rarely tell you that. Many drivers suspected of DUI / DWI in California hope they’ll avoid a drunk driving arrest after “passing” a field sobriety test, but it’s nearly impossible to do that, because these tests are designed to be failed. No matter how well you perform, the arresting officer will testify that your test results showed that you were too drunk to drive.

However, a skilled Riverside DUI / DWI attorney will use that same evidence to pinpoint things that you did right. Field sobriety tests are divided-attention tests, meaning they’re designed to make you concentrate on two different tasks at once. However, there are many different conditions that have nothing to do with alcohol impairment that could have caused you to “fail” a field sobriety test in a Riverside DUI / DWI case.

For example, the walk and turn test requires the driver to take nine steps along an imaginary line, turn, and take nine steps back along the same line. The officer watches for so-called signs of impairment such as an inability to maintain balance. However, many drivers suffer from illnesses or injuries that prevent them from performing the test “correctly.” It’s the job of an experienced Riverside DUI / DWI lawyer to bring these facts to light and create reasonable doubt in your guilt in a California drunk driving case.

Drivers arrested for DUI / DWI in Riverside typically face two separate charges – a “per se” charge, which alleges a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 percent or greater in violation of California law, and a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The first charge is focused solely on the driver’s alcohol content, while the second charge is concerned with whether the driver was too mentally and physically impaired to safely operate a motor vehicle. Field sobriety tests are typically used as evidence to support the charge of driving under the influence.

There are two types of field sobriety tests used in Riverside DUI / DWI cases – standardized and non-standardized. Three field sobriety tests are standardized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) – the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, the walk and turn test, and the one leg stand test. These tests have precise instructions and an objective scoring system, unlike non-standardized tests.

Although police investigating Riverside DUI / DWI cases have NHTSA-standardized field sobriety tests at their disposal, many choose to use non-standardized tests. These include the Rhomberg balance test, the finger-to-nose test, the hand-pat test, the finger-tap test, and reciting the alphabet.

Fortunately, all of these California field sobriety tests can be aggressively challenged in a Riverside DUI / DWI case. To learn more about effective defenses to California drunk driving charges, contact an experienced Riverside DUI / DWI lawyer today for a free consultation.