field sobriety test

We already know what a field sobriety test typically is. Many of us have seen episodes of Cops or dashcam footage of officers pulling drivers over and conducting tests such as the heel-to-toe walk. Even more people riff on these tests, such as asking drivers to recite the alphabet backwards. While being hassled like that with a task you can’t really complete even when fully sober might be funny, field sobriety tests are a serious real life indicator that can help an officer determine if an operator is too drunk to safely be driving on the road.

What is it exactly that a field sobriety test is testing, and what kind of tests may occur? We go over the standardized field sobriety tests used by law enforcement today.