Field sobriety test question

[Wolfhound]

One of the things I have never understood about drunk driving is the crash survive-ability factor. People who have limited or no injuries in horrific crashes while really drunk.

"God protects drunks and fools"

 

[Leadeye]

Years ago at a New Years party at my house some kids crashed a car into a concrete culvert at the end of my yard and then were knocking on my door looking for help. No serious injuries, but when I went outside to look at the car it was completely trashed. Kids were all three drunk, when the law, medics and wreckers arrived the cop in charge told me about the same thing Denny just said.

 

[Lt Scott 14]

Couple of my co-workers use to work on the Saturday Night Fever FST's. After verbal and physical tests failed, they would ask if the subject could point down towards a rock, then up to a star in sky. Imagine a line of 4 subjects doing a line check(Dance if you want), and if dressed in a white zoot suit, could meet John Travolta? My sides hurt when I witnessed the Travolta Test! Full Moons bring out all kinds!

 

[Jludo]

[video=youtube_share;ALpkhwy-rX0]https://youtu.be/ALpkhwy-rX0[/video]

 

[Sigblitz]

Not sure why you'd pay anything more than a deductible.
Homeowners insurance should cover it.
They have a choice about going after the teens for compensation.

If you don't have insurance, well then, I guess you're paying.

Unless you have a picture or camera footage of who's driving.

Homeowners insurance may be waiting for auto insurance to close their investigation and submit payment. Sounds like they can't even figure out who was driving.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Because they don't tense up prior to the crash. They stay loose and roll with the punches.

When I was 17, on Christmas Eve, I was taking my girlfriend to the late night service at her church when we were hit head on by a drunk that jumped the center curb and slammed into us. We were probably both doing about 40. No serious injuries to my girlfriend or I (it happened so fast I don't think we tensed up, and we had our seatbelts on). I got out of the car and walked up to the drunk's passenger window and he was passed out cold. Empty beer cans all over the car. When the cops got there, I told them I didn't know if he was okay or not and the first thing he said was, "He's drunk. You can't hurt a drunk."

 

[Wolfhound]

[video=youtube_share;ALpkhwy-rX0]https://youtu.be/ALpkhwy-rX0[/video]

 

[rooster]

A Leo in my reserve unit gave me a FST one day out of boredom at drill. Long story short I can’t balance or do tricks very well. It was his advice that I just ask to be taken in for the certified breathalyzer. Said trying to do the dog and pony show or a PBT might result in a DUI even if I pass the certified one at the station.

 

[Denny347]

A Leo in my reserve unit gave me a FST one day out of boredom at drill. Long story short I can’t balance or do tricks very well. It was his advice that I just ask to be taken in for the certified breathalyzer. Said trying to do the dog and pony show or a PBT might result in a DUI even if I pass the certified one at the station.

.PBT results cannot be used against you in court. They are only to confirm the presence of ETOH. I'm not sure why people are afraid of catching a DUI stone sober. If you are not giving any behavior of intoxication (driving or otherwise) I'm not going to have you go through SFST's.

 

[semperfi211]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk99NofbLVQ

 

[Kutnupe14]

One of the things I have never understood about drunk driving is the crash survive-ability factor. People who have limited or no injuries in horrific crashes while really drunk.

Because they don't tense up prior to the crash. They stay loose and roll with the punches.

To piggyback, people have a tendency to lock their limbs when tensing up, and obviously a rigid object is more prone to breaking than bending.

 

[ghuns]

...When the cops got there, I told them I didn't know if he was okay or not and the first thing he said was, "He's drunk. You can't hurt a drunk."

My dad used to be an OTR truck driver. Back in the 80s, his semi was rear ended at a stoplight in Kokomo by a drunk in a Chevy Luv pickup. The drunk was going fast enough when he hit to go under the rear bumper, hit the back tires, shear the pins off the axle slider, and push the tandems all the way forward. The entire length of that mini truck was under the trailer. The trailer ended up being totaled. So was the drunk.

 

[rhino]

.PBT results cannot be used against you in court. They are only to confirm the presence of ETOH. I'm not sure why people are afraid of catching a DUI stone sober. If you are not giving any behavior of intoxication (driving or otherwise) I'm not going to have you go through SFST's.

It's because we don't know what you know, we don't have your experience, we don't know what is inside of your head, and we are very concerned with the potential consequences of an OWI scenario. That's why we ask questions and discuss. Some of us have attracted enough attention to be pulled over for questionable reasons and are understandably concerned about things that could happen not so much because of the probability, but because of the stakes.

And since I raised "questionable reasons," I provide as examples: I was pulled over on US 231 at about 3:00 AM because one of my two license plate lights was not working (it is my understanding that you only need a functional light to be in compliance, not two). Years before that, I was pulled over (also on 231, but on the north end of Spencer) during some event when a bunch of extra police officers were working specifically to catch drunk drivers. The reason for stopping me was given as, ". . . you were all over the road back there." I'm not a great driver, but if I had been "all over the road," I pretty much am always all over the road and should be stopped every time I get behind the wheel.

 

[Trigger Time]

Some people take prescribed narcotics as directed by a doctor.
Who defines if they are high? A blood test which only measures amount in their system? People form tolerances and different body types. Also people who take these meds for the right reasons a lot of times have impairments that would cause them to looks like michael J. Fox in a field sobriety test.

So why might a sober person not want to submit to any field sobriety test? Thats why. Just because you have narcotics in your system doesn't mean you are impaired.
I hate drunk or impaired drivers. Ive lost a very close friend to a drunk driver and its senseless. I honestly would like the government to hang repeat drunk drivers.
I would never drive if I felt even the slightest foggy or had drank more than 1 drink within a couple hours. Just the way Ive always operated.

 

[VUPDblue]

When it comes to operating with prescription meds on board, there are a couple factors that come into play. First, there is a difference between a therapeutic dose of a drug and a “recreational dose”. Also, the little warning on the bottle that says not to operate vehicles or equipment while taking that drug is binding, and here’s why; in the LE world the definition of a “drug” is ‘any substance that when taken into the human body impairs a persons ability to operate a vehicle safely’. Just because a person has a scrip for a drug does not give them a free pass to put everyone else on the road in danger. The criminal code in Indiana simply states that operating while impaired is a crime, period.

Some people take prescribed narcotics as directed by a doctor.
Who defines if they are high? A blood test which only measures amount in their system? People form tolerances and different body types. Also people who take these meds for the right reasons a lot of times have impairments that would cause them to looks like michael J. Fox in a field sobriety test.

So why might a sober person not want to submit to any field sobriety test? Thats why. Just because you have narcotics in your system doesn't mean you are impaired.
I hate drunk or impaired drivers. Ive lost a very close friend to a drunk driver and its senseless. I honestly would like the government to hang repeat drunk drivers.
I would never drive if felt even the slightest foggy or had drank more than 1 drink within a couple hours. Just the way Ive always operated.

 

[rooster]

.PBT results cannot be used against you in court. They are only to confirm the presence of ETOH. I'm not sure why people are afraid of catching a DUI stone sober. If you are not giving any behavior of intoxication (driving or otherwise) I'm not going to have you go through SFST's.

My concern and I think many others isn’t catching a DUI when stone sober it’s catching a DUI after having a beer with dinner when you might blow something between 0 and .08. Because ,and please correct me if I’m wrong, an officer can still haul you in for a blood draw/Breathalyzer if they want to. Especially if you don’t do well with the balance test.

You can and probably will say that you wouldn’t do that but the possibility remains and you have the authority to. That’s what people have a problem with.

 

[VUPDblue]

There are two OVWI charges. One of course is operating at or above .08% because that is the statutorily prohibited number. The other is operating while intoxicated and has everything to do with impairment and nothing to do with a number. I feel like everyone in this thread has a fear based on what they refer to as a “balance test”. The SFSTs are not about balance, they are about divided attention. Yes there may be scenarios where people are arrested for for alcohol related DUI who test below .08%, and rightly so, but there are a ton of other factors at play in a dui investigation, not just the SFSTs and a breathalyzer. LE must be able to articulate your impairment and that it is related to a chemical.

 

[Trigger Time]

When it comes to operating with prescription meds on board, there are a couple factors that come into play. First, there is a difference between a therapeutic dose of a drug and a “recreational dose”. Also, the little warning on the bottle that says not to operate vehicles or equipment while taking that drug is binding, and here’s why; in the LE world the definition of a “drug” is ‘any substance that when taken into the human body impairs a persons ability to operate a vehicle safely’. Just because a person has a scrip for a drug does not give them a free pass to put everyone else on the road in danger. The criminal code in Indiana simply states that operating while impaired is a crime, period.

Thats going to take like 60% of drivers off the road if they start going at it like that. Maybe they should so that the law gets changed to be more reasonable.
Either way thanks for the straight answer on it.

 

[Trigger Time]

Just checked a bottle of meds. It says, "use caution when operating a vehicle ...... MAY cause drowsiness"

I think that's the kicker. May. And user discretion.
Like I said if I ever felt drowsy or foggy on a med I wouldn't be driving a vehicle.
If actual ****bags can drive drunk and get away with it over and over and back in a car legally and our justice system is going to start ****ing with drivers with injuries and disabilities then we need to start retiring some folks and hiring new ones

 

[VUPDblue]

Just checked a bottle of meds. It says, "use caution when operating a vehicle ...... MAY cause drowsiness"

I think that's the kicker. May. And user discretion.
Like I said if I ever felt drowsy or foggy on a med I wouldn't be driving a vehicle.
If actual ****bags can drive drunk and get away with it over and over and back in a car legally and our justice system is going to start ****ing with drivers with injuries and disabilities then we need to start retiring some folks and hiring new ones

I'm with you on all counts. I recently learned that NHTSA/ICJI is going to be funding a DUI court (prosecutors and a judge who only hear DUI cases) in Marion County so perhaps the penalties will start aligning back to where they should be.