Reader’s Question:

I once saw someone who was being arrested for DUI here in Atlanta, Georgia. He was asked to count backwards and it didn’t seem that he had been drinking. Other than being intoxicated, they say that there could be several other reasons that a driver can fail this test. Could you cite some examples as to how a driver can fail this test?

Damien

Atlanta, GA

A driver in Atlanta, Georgia who is under investigation for DUI is usually asked to take field sobriety tests such as counting numbers backward. The driver might think that the test would help the police officer decide to make an arrest but the truth is that the officer likely makes that decision long before the test begins. Being forced out of your car on a busy freeway or street is somewhat nerve-wracking and anyone can make a mistake. These field sobriety tests serve to create a probable cause for a DUI arrest and to gather evidence for use in a DUI court case.

Just like any other field sobriety tests, numbers backward test is a divided attention test which means that it is designed to distract the driver between two tasks. There are many reasons why an individual could perform poorly on this test which include nervousness or fatigue. The officer also sometimes doesn’t administer the test correctly or do a good job of explaining the instructions. The numbers backward test is also an extremely subjective test because the results could be interpreted in more than one way.

Tags: DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer, field sobriety tests