DUI Lawyer In Georgia

Reader’s Question:

My cousin from Athens, Georgia was charged some time last month for DWI arrest. His car got pulled over by a policeman due to his driving behavior. I remember he said that he had a slurred speech at that time because of his panic attack. Is a slurred speech a sign of intoxication?

Janice

Athens, GA

A very interesting question, Janice. In Georgia, police officers are taught to look signs and symptoms of impairment or intoxication. Slurred speech is actually one of those signs they are looking for based on the research conducted by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) that can be used against you for a DWI arrest.

Actually, the answer to your question is a both a Yes and a No. Why yes? Because it is very likely that slurred speech can be caused by excessive intake of alcohol. And it is a No, because slurred speech can also sometimes be associated to a speech impediment or a neurological disorder. Research has proven that most people can differentiate between sober (individual that has a disorder) or an intoxicated speech just by listening to the recordings of people talking. However, this does not mean that any judge with high reliability can easily determine an individual if he or she is intoxicated just by simply listening to how they talk. Even those people that are experts in speech, called phoneticians, are not that better in making these kinds of judgments. Also, another problem why slurred speech is not a good indicator of intoxication is because alcohol is not the only cause for someone to have a slurred speech. It is interesting to mention that a rare condition called Ataxic dysarthria. It is a neurological problem that causes a person to sound drunk. Stress can also be a great factor to cause someone to have a slurred speech.