Georgia Walk and Turn Test
In Atlanta, there are three standardized field sobriety tests that law enforcement agents are trained to administer. The battery of tests, which is approved by the NHTSA, includes the one-leg stand test, Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, and the walk-and-turn test.
While it may seem as though the walk-and-turn test is meant to measure the driver’s physical abilities, this is known as a “divided attention” test. This means that the test was designed to assess the driver’s ability to pay attention and to follow the officer’s directions.
To administer the test, the officer will place the driver in an awkward stance. The driver is expected to stand like this for a prolonged amount of time while listening to the police officer’s directions.
The officer will tell the driver to take nine heel-to-toe steps, turn and pivot off his or her front foot, and take nine more heel-to-toe steps back towards the officer. During this time, the driver must also count out loud the number of steps he or she has taken.
While the driver is taking this test, the officer is looking for certain criteria. The criteria are: inability to maintain balance while listening to directions, missing steps, taking an improper number of steps, stepping off of the imaginary line, turning improperly, or failing to count out loud while taking steps.
In Atlanta, if the driver misses any of the two criteria, he or she has met the police officer’s arrest criteria and goes off to jail.
If you have recently been charged with DUI in Atlanta after taking this test and failing, it is important to connect with attorney Frank Gomez who has expertise and knowledge in challenging the walk-and-turn test.
There are several reasons that a person could fail this field sobriety test – reasons unrelated to sobriety. Physical impairments, body weight, and even general nervousness at being stopped may lead to a substandard performance on this test.
It is also important to remember that this test is subjective. After all, if the police officer pulled you over on suspicion of drunk driving, he or she probably assumes that you are intoxicated. This may lead to the officer unfairly reading into your actions during the test.
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