Well that was one of the 10 most terrifying minutes of my life...field sobriety test

Page 5 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,483
8,344
126
Sorry for your bad experience, OP.

If you wouldn't mind answering as an officer of the law, what should a person say in that situation? And does it really make any difference in how you assess the situation?
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
31
91
What makes bad cops so bad is that there is really nothing you can do. It's your word against theirs and usually the good ones will back up the bad ones out of some jacked up sense of brotherhood. But like most people I have had very few run-ins with the police and, fortunately, the majority have been with people who are just trying to do their job.
 

sao123

Lifer
May 27, 2002
12,650
203
106
umm everyone calls them brights

And east coast and west coast...

Pretty much everyone in the midwest.

no self respecting person east of the mississippi is going to speak in that gobbeltygook.

Neither will any automotive headlamp bulb manufacturer...

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/Halogen/XtravisionProducts/
High Performance Halogen Sealed Beam Headlight - Dual filament for both high beam and low beam - part number: H6054XV


I bet you all are the same group of morons who refer to highways as "THE 85"


Y'all need to learn how to speak real english.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,747
579
126
yea i read this thread this morning and was trying to do it on my drive to work. id fail sober

TBH i might have an easier time doing it when drunk

There's no song for backwards. I guess you could make one up though.
 

BudAshes

Lifer
Jul 20, 2003
13,933
3,227
146
I'm so fucking sick of traffic cops. This country has turned into the ultimate nanny state, while we completely ignore crimes that actually matter. It's because it's a lot easier for the weak cops to pick on normal people rather than actually mess with people that are actually dangerous.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
I had a similar situation.

I was going home from a holiday poker game after work and got pulled over for speeding (limit drops from 40 to 25 in about 3 blocks), I think I was 7mph over. Someone had brought some wine so I had about 1/2 a glass because no one else was drinking it and I felt bad. That's all I had as I'm not a big drinker. I was truthful and admitted to the officer that I had a little wine. He asked me to step out of the vehicle and I forgot my hat and gloves in the car. It was about 3 degrees out. He refused to let me get my hat and gloves and then yelled at me if I tried to put my hands in my pockets. It was so cold I was shivering.

He called in for backup, made me hop on one leg and do the alphabet multiple times from D to P and other stuff. He yelled at me several times saying I was singing the alphabet! I was like WTF? How am I singing the alphabet?

I also have a bad back and foot issues and could only stand on one leg for 25 out of 30 seconds the two times he made me try. So that convinced him I must be drunk and he yelled at me some more. Eventually he just gave me a ticket for speeding after running through a 2nd and 3rd iteration of some tests, but it was still the most terrifying 15 minutes in my life. It seemed like an eternity!

I've had that happen too :(

When I got my last DUI it was freezing and snowing out. I know how much cops hate it when you put your hands in your pockets, so I asked him to search me. He gave my pockets a quick pat down and then thanked me :)
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,747
579
126
Every police officer I've dealt with has been courteous and respectful, and I made sure to behave the same way towards them.

Where do you live? The ones around here aren't that bad either, but I was visiting a friend in South Carolina once and we drove through a sobriety checkpoint at like 4 in the afternoon (he thought about driving around it but said why bother since no one had anything to drink and we'd just gone to the store to buy soda and some food). The cops were screaming at us and yanking open the car doors (which didn't work since the car had those belts that attach to the doors and I was of course wearing my seat belt) I was following my no sudden movements and say nothing system but I thought I was going to get beaten for a second there. I assume if I'd burped I would have been shot in the back. OK, It wasn't that bad but its sort of funny now. :p They were epic assholes. My one friend is flipping out going "It's just soda!" holding up a grocery bag with a two liter of root beer in it.
 

jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,517
223
106
If you wouldn't mind answering as an officer of the law, what should a person say in that situation? And does it really make any difference in how you assess the situation?

Seems pretty much everyone has had "just two beers"..hah..that said, personally, I'd rather have someone honestly tell me they had one beer rather than lie and tell me they had nothing. I usually know if you've been drinking before I ask. Saying no beers when you've clearly been drinking makes me think you've had a lot more than one. :p

I typically know after the first test (HGN) if the operator is DUI, as a failed HGN test (4+ indicators) is indicative of 0.10% BAC (or higher), but we run all the tests anyway (one leg stand & walk and turn).
 

Squisher

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
21,204
66
91
Getting back to the reverse alphabet thing. I think the cop was a little pissed that I recited the alphabet without going into sing song and had done it clearly and concisely, but at a fairly rapid pace. I think it was half him being a smartass and also him just seeing if I'd even make an attempt at something so absurd.

I'm trying to think but I'm not sure that portable breathalyzers were all that common at the time (~1976). Cops had to make a determination in the field and then get it confirmed back at the station. Back then failing a sobriety test usually meant finding someone in the car with you sober enough to drive.
 

acheron

Diamond Member
May 27, 2008
3,171
2
81
no self respecting person east of the mississippi is going to speak in that gobbeltygook.

You are incorrect, I've heard "brights" in Ohio, Massachusetts, and Virginia, among other places in the east.

I bet you all are the same group of morons who refer to highways as "THE 85"

That, however, is just Californians as far as I know. Another reason California sucks. :p
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,125
30,076
146
Many, many people in all states calls them brights.

Without question

One person's sheltered perception of reality does not represent for all.


well, at least you know how to spell "y'all."
;)
 

PlasmaBomb

Lifer
Nov 19, 2004
11,636
2
81
You're lucky he didn't breathalyze you.
2 Beers after intense physical activity and you were probably over .08.
Not that I agree with the limit... but your night could have been much much worse.

He had one beer...
 

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,886
0
76
no self respecting person east of the mississippi is going to speak in that gobbeltygook.

Neither will any automotive headlamp bulb manufacturer...

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProducts/AutomotiveLighting/Products/Halogen/XtravisionProducts/
High Performance Halogen Sealed Beam Headlight - Dual filament for both high beam and low beam - part number: H6054XV


I bet you all are the same group of morons who refer to highways as "THE 85"


Y'all need to learn how to speak real english.

When people say brights, you know what they're talking about, right?


Sounds correct to me.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
And two (12oz) beers isn't going to make him an .08 either.

Hurricane_HG_Lager_8_1.jpg