I don't like field sobriety tests. I don't drive and I don't drink, but these bullshit field sobriety tests are way too subjective and I have watched a couple where the officer just tries to exhaust the subject and cause them mental anguish by barking repeated commands at them.
The actual test is when the officer says, “Take 10 steps that way and turn around so we can begin the test.” That is the entire test. Everything after that is for the officers amusement.
breathalyzers have always been the thing here, with ours you blow down a plastic tube but i think NSW use one where you just say your name into it and it detects the alcohol in your breath.
it says little about the person theyre testing tho, and the simple fact is that a lightweight might end up falling asleep from half a shot of whiskey while a hard drinker could have half a slab and it doesnt hit the sides. kind of hard to work out where the line is, because this is one of these things that does kill people other than the drunk person, and in the case of alcoholic parents they quite often kill their own kids by accidents, leaving them in cars, shit like that.
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