Officers who have reason to suspect you are driving under the influence may pull you over and ask you to take part in standardized field sobriety tests. These tests alone cannot reliably prove whether or not you were driving under the influence of alcohol.
However, field sobriety tests allow officers to gather evidence to help them determine whether they have probable cause to arrest you for DWI. Because these tests often lead to DWI arrests, it is important to know what outside factors can affect your test results.
How can external conditions affect your performance in tests?
Officers use field sobriety tests to determine whether you are under the influence of drugs and alcohol, though they are not completely foolproof. Factors that can affect a test in the field can also affect an officer’s ability to determine impairment. Such factors typically include:
- Road conditions: Uneven pavement and gravel can throw you off balance and affect your performance.
- Weather: Rain, snow, ice and heavy wind can make it difficult to concentrate or balance yourself.
- External distractions: Passing vehicles, bright headlights, car horns and loud traffic noises can be disorienting and distracting.
- Clothing: Restrictive clothing and footwear can make it harder to perform specific field sobriety tests.
- Physical and mental conditions: Age, fatigue, anxiety and other mental or physical conditions can affect your ability to carry out or understand instructions.
Another factor to keep in mind is how the police officer delivers instructions and records the results. If they rush their explanations or give unclear directions, you might not perform as well, potentially giving them the impression that you are drunk. It is easy to mistake drunkenness for confusion. Similarly, if they are distracted or do not pay close attention to how well you do, they might make incorrect observations.
Why these factors matter in New York DWI cases
Due to the significance of impairment in DWI cases, external factors that can affect your balance, coordination or comprehension can be relevant when a stop leads to an arrest. If you believe that these factors affected your performance, you can take notes and photographs for documentation purposes. Pay extra attention to the weather and roadside conditions.
Familiarizing yourself with New York’s DWI laws, as well as your rights, is an important step in strengthening your case. While you can decline field sobriety tests, that choice may still come in as evidence, and refusing a chemical test can carry separate penalties under the state’s implied consent law.
Even if external factors interfered with the test and threw off your results, you still have options. With good documentation and by familiarizing yourself with your rights in court through legal guidance, you can take control of what happens next.