Atlanta DUI Attorney | I'm Not Drunk, Just a Klutz!

I'm Not Drunk, Just a Klutz!

Posted By Richard Lawson on Jan 30, 2011 4:57pm PST

I was arrested for DUI in Atlanta, GA. I was asked to do some filed sobriety testing like standing on one leg, walking heel to toe, and following the officer's finger with my eyes. Now being the klutz I am, I fell over during one of the tests and was charged with DUI even though I wasn't drunk. What should I do?

The first thing NOT to do is perform field sobriety tests. Here's why:

1) Field sobriety tests are voluntary in the State of Georgia and there is no negative effect or legal penalty for refusing to perform them.

2) They are designed for failure. If you are clumsy or just uncoordinated, you might not do well with these tests. How often are you asked to stand on one foot? Also the pressure of being accused of DUI coupled with unnatural acts could be factors in failing.

3) DUI agility tests are not scientifically valid. In fact, Georgia courts regularly preclude the results of the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) because there is not enough evidence to substantiate that it is widely accepted in the scientific community. The claims behind the design of these tests have not been peer reviewed. In fact there is a great number of scholarly research that points to the invalidity of these tests and the extremely high rate of false positives when in these cases, such as your clumsy friend, they assume that everyone can preform these tests to the officer’s satisfaction and the only reason that someone cannot is because they are drunk. We all know that is not so.

So....why perform tests that aren't accurate and produce false positives? Call the Law Offices of Richard S Lawson right away.

I'm Not Drunk, Just a Klutz!

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