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Related Experiment Videos

Field sobriety tests: are they designed for failure?

S Cole1, R H Nowaczyk

  • 1Department of Psychology, Clemson University, SC 29634.

Perceptual and Motor Skills
|August 1, 1994
PubMed
Summary

Field sobriety tests may inaccurately identify impaired drivers. Law enforcement officers wrongly flagged sober individuals as impaired when using these tests compared to normal tasks.

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Area of Science:

  • Forensic Psychology
  • Traffic Safety
  • Law Enforcement

Background:

  • Field sobriety tests (FSTs) are standard tools for law enforcement to detect alcohol-impaired drivers.
  • Previous research (Tharp et al., 1981) indicated significant inaccuracies in FSTs, with 32% of individuals above the legal limit actually being below it.
  • Concerns persist regarding the reliability and validity of FSTs in real-world and laboratory settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether law enforcement officers are more likely to perceive sober individuals as impaired when observing them perform FSTs versus normal-ability tasks.
  • To assess the influence of test type on officer judgment of impairment.
  • To highlight the need for reevaluation of FST predictive validity.

Main Methods:

  • Two groups of seven law enforcement officers each participated.
  • Officers viewed videotapes of 21 sober individuals.
  • Participants were shown performing either standard FSTs or normal-ability tests (e.g., reciting address/phone number, walking normally).

Main Results:

  • Officers judged a significantly greater number of individuals as impaired when they were performing FSTs.
  • Sober individuals were disproportionately misidentified as impaired during FSTs.
  • A significant difference in impairment judgments was observed based on the type of test administered.

Conclusions:

  • The findings suggest FSTs may lead to a higher rate of false positives for impairment.
  • The predictive validity of FSTs in accurately identifying alcohol-impaired drivers requires critical reevaluation.
  • Standard law enforcement practices for assessing driver impairment may need revision based on test performance.

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