Roadside Tasks

                                                                             

Field Sobriety Exercises are so-called divided attention tasks. These were the Finger to Nose, Walk and Turn, One legged Stand, ABCs, HGN ( not currently admissible in Palm Beach County).

These are the exercises that the officer had you perform after he asked you to step out of the car. Folks, let me tell you these exercises are not normal and are not part of your daily routine. First of all no one but no one walks around heel to toe on a line (often imaginary)! Have you ever seen anyone driving a car touching their finger to their nose? Have you ever seen anyone standing around holding one leg in the air. The one that comes closes to being normal is the ABC's, after all, we speak and write everyday.

Consider the conditions these exercises were given under: You are being carefully watched by the officer who is going to place you under arrest anyway. More likely than not the lighting conditions are poor. Perhaps the exercises were performed near on-coming traffic and passers-by were jeering at you or maybe their headlights were distracting you. Perhaps the exercises were performed on the side of the road which may not have been flat or the surface had rocks and debris that interferred with your performance. If a person is overweight that may effect his performance. If a person has an inner ear problem that may effect his performance.

One thing that I guarantee that when the cop testifies in open court and maybe even demonstrates these exercises he does not do so under the same conditions that you performed them on the side of the road!

Don't get me wrong, you may look absolutely terrible on the roadsides, if so, the dash mounted camera will probably catch it. If you fall off the line, the camera will show it!

Watch this guy! <a href="http://www.bofunk.com/video/4117/field_sobriety_test.html"></a>