[deleted]
Do some countries really use dumb tests like this to enforce DUI laws? What?
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Submitted 3 weeks ago by TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Field sobriety tests are complete pseudoscience and only exist to gain evidence against you not to prove you’re sober. You should never consent to them and if an officer asks you to take one you’re already going to jail regardless.
TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
[deleted]nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
No? This all sounds so weird to me. Breathalyzers exist.
starlinguk@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If you can’t remember the alphabet, your education has failed you big time.
FEIN@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
personally i couldnt read the alpahabet backwards, sober or not
m4xie@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
This is what they’re hoping you’ll say, “huh? I couldn’t do that even if I WAS sober!”
TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
[deleted]Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Can elaborate on how the education system is corrupt? I’m a public school teacher and I would like to get in on the grift.
Quexotic@infosec.pub 3 weeks ago
daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
I thought this was a movie thing. Don’t you have breath analyzers for real?
TheReanuKeeves@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
[deleted]nimpnin@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
- get each traffic cop one 2) there are similar devices for the rapid testing of drugs as well
CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Roadside breath tests arent admissible in court because they aren’t certified testing devices. Only the one at the station with a record of maintenance is admissible.
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 3 weeks ago
From what I know they still have to call additional unit to assist with the test. Probably some training is required so it can’t just be any unit. They could easily call someone to bring a breathalyzer but or course they don’t want a accurate result. They just want an excuse to fuck with someone.
QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They have to have probable cause to arrest you (and then do a breathalyzer).
brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
A field sobriety test cannot ever be used as evidence that you are sober in court. They can only be used by cops and prosecutors as evidence you were impaired.
There is never a good reason to submit to them. Cops aren’t watching to see if you are sober. They are looking to see if you are impaired.
If you are drunk, hope they don’t make you take a breathalyzer. Even then, you can refuse and they can make you take a blood test OR if you refuse that they take your license but they have less evidence you were drunk. I’m not entirely sure, but fairly certain they could get a warrant and compel a blood draw, but hopefully by that time you’ve sobered up a bit. You still forfeit your license.
If you are just a little intoxicated, the time between being pulled over and a phlebotomist takes your blood could be enough to be under the limit.
That said, even under the limit, they might still claim you were impaired anyway and hit you with the ticket/arrest anyway.
Ibisalt@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
how about dont drink and drive and put others lives in danger?
toynbee@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
While this is good advice, at least where I’m from it’s no guarantee of not suffering the legal consequences as if you had.
mech@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
fairly certain they could get a warrant and compel a blood draw, but hopefully by that time you’ve sobered up a bit.
It’ll take an hour max which only reduces your BAC by about .01%
Whether they can calculate back how high it was at the time of you driving and use that in court depends on jurisdiction and the judge.octobob@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Well, this wasn’t me but a friend of mine. But he told me he literally was taking a swig of beer as the flashing red and blue came on behind him. I’m not sure how much stronger that might make a breathalyzer, but he asked for a blood test at the station instead for that reason.
Bongles@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
There’s a clear difference between someone who’s drunk screwing up the alphabet, slurring, can’t keep their eyes open, getting distracted, arguing with the cop, unbalanced, and someone just not really remembering the alphabet. If you’re taking a field sobriety test, they’re not really grading your knowledge of the alphabet, they’re looking for signs of intoxication. If after all the tests (walk and turn, balance on one leg, looking at the horizon) the cop is still suspicious, you might do a breathalyzer, or be arrested and brought in for a blood test.
twistypencil@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It’s a trick. If you say I couldn’t do that when sober, you failed
tomjuggler@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I have a paranoid fear that some day I will be required to write an ampersand…
palordrolap@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
All forms of ampersand are based on "Et", Latin for "and", so cheat and use the backwards 3 (for E) forms.
The simplest puts a vertical bar through the backwards 3 like a relative of the dollar sign, and the other adds a t to it so that the middle point and the bottom line of the backwards 3 join up with the crossbar and base of the t. Bonus points for drawing that latter one without lifting your pen, but you're doing well if you still have to extend the t's crossbar after the fact.
Or really cheat and use the plus sign. That's just the t from "Et", but in the right context, most people instinctively understand it + will know what you mean.
MantisToboggon@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Then to the jail you will going.
Randomgal@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
You will be breathalyzed and then you go on your way.
burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
The cop will have one more piece of evidence to arrest you on. No dwi is made solely on you failing a single test, the judge would laugh their ass off for that. But when you tell one, “he was swerving across multiple lanes, smelled of alcoholic beverages, couldn’t say the alphabet starting at e and ending at t, had XXX nystagmus (there’s like three types they check for), did PZY clues on the walk and turn test, and admitted he had been at the bar an ‘hour or so ago,’” they suddenly have a very different conception of what failing to remember the alphabet means.
Remember, don’t answer any questions on a traffic stop, kiddos. It’s always shut the fuck up friday. ALSO, fuck people who drive drunk, but mostly don’t give cops the time of day if they ask, much less any other info.
Ziggurat@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
I still don’t get why the US sobriety tests are admissible by a judge. cops can just run a breathalyser test (or even a drug test), it’s faster than all these weird test and more reliable.
If your going to arrest someone anyway , you can even get a blood/urine sample for a lab-grade drug search.
burntbacon@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
The blood/urine/breath samples come AFTER the arrest. At least where I live, blood needs a warrant, which they aren’t getting without enough ‘evidence’ to convince a judge. Hence the roadside sobriety tests. They can take a breath sample because the law requires that you give one if you have a driver’s license (it’s part of all the legal paperwork you sign when you get one), but you can’t really force someone to give a breath sample because it’s not a simple thing.
The breathalyzer and blood are definitive tests, but they aren’t needed for the arrest or the conviction. A cop that I know said the best cases were the ones where he stood a driver in front of his car’s camera for about five seconds and you can see them visibly fall over or stumble while just trying to stand there. Criminal cases are always about convincing a jury, and that means that ‘evidence’ like a car swerving on the highway, the smell of alcoholic beverages, the field sobriety tests, the general appearance or manner of the driver, the statements made, etc., all matter.
14th_cylon@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
Obligatory: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE
Falafelicious@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
I agree with never taking to cops. But if a cop says you’re doing a sobriety test, you don’t have a choice. Either do it or get suspended for a year. And they don’t need a reason, all they have to do is say you were swerving or you smell like alcohol
Semester3383@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Not correct. Field sobriety tests are ‘voluntary’ in all states in the US, although refusing to take one may be used as evidence against you in a trial, depending on the state. Likewise, you can refuse breathalyzer tests, although that may carry significant civil penalties.
Tja@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
The land of the free, everyone.
shalafi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I got thrown in the drunk tank in college solely for failing the recite the alphabet backwards and mixing M and N, cuffed me the second I mixed it up. They had nothing else on me, was riding my bike straight down the sidewalk after returning library book in the wee hours. Performed the roadside aerobics perfectly.
fubbernuckin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Actual question, how do I not answer any questions? I feel like if I’m literally mute for the entire encounter then I’m getting charged for not cooperating.
yoevli@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You should verbally indicate that you don’t wish to answer questions rather than staying totally silent. That said, there are circumstances where cooperating can make your life easier if you’re able to easily and clearly dispel the officer’s suspicion, though this is highly dependent on situation and the specific cop you’re dealing with. If you are doing something wrong the best thing is always to stfu.