Use Their Science Against Them
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Our friends at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have created a booklet for law enforcement called “Guide for Detecting Drunk Drivers at Night.” This guide sets forth some of the most common and reliable indicators of drunk driving, such as: Turning with a wide radius; Straddling the center or land etc. What’s more, they have assigned a probability of intoxication to each of the indicators. For example, a person who turns with a wide radius will have a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or higher 65 out of 100 times. A person who appears drunk will have a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or higher 60 times out of 100. There is also a procedure for calculating multiple factors, “When two or more cues are seen, add ten to the highest value among the cues observed.” If we see turning with a wide radius and a suspect who appears drunk, we take the higher number and add 10 (65 + 10 = 75). Thus, 25 people out of 100 who appear drunk and turn with a wide radius are not intoxicated. “On cross examination, the NHTSA research figures can be used to show that…individuals exhibiting these symptoms are not under the influence.” Taylor & Oberman, Drunk Driving Defense, 6th Ed., p. 210-211.
If you are stopped on suspicion of drunk driving, contact Dayton DUI defense attorney Charles Rowland today at 937-318-1DUI (318-1384); 1-888-ROWLAND (888-769-5263); by texting DaytonDUI (one word) to 50500 or by visiting www.DaytonDUI.com.
