The Visual Detection Of DWI Motorists

| March 31, 2011

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration ("NHTSA") recently released a pamphlet called "The Visual Detection of DWI Motorists." According to NHTSA, there are approximately 100 cues that predict a BAC of 0.08 greater. The purpose of the pamphlet was to report results from a survey of hundreds of officers and over 12,000 stops. NHTSA reduced this to 24 clues and created four categories: (1) problems in maintaining proper lane position; (2) speed and braking problems; (3) vigilance problems; and (4) judgment problems.

There are some interesting statistics presented by NHTSA, including:

(a) The cues presented in these categories predict that a driver is DWI at least 35 percent of the time;

(b) If a person is weaving within his lane or across other lanes, the probability of DWI is 50 percent;

(d) Some other cues, standing alone, have a single-cue probability of 70 percent.

Click here to view the manual. As former prosecutors, our attorneys are experienced at all the "tell-tale" signs that the police look for and the State will use as evidence in your DWI prosecution. Contact a Plano DWI attorney today for a free case evaluation.