Reader’s Question:

How is the horizontal gaze nystagmus test being done in DUI field sobriety tests? If I get arrested for DUI in Louisville, Kentucky, do I have to do this test?

Blair
Louisville, KY

If you get arrested for DUI in Louisville, Kentucky, you don’t have to take the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN) because this test, as they say, looks for twitching in the eye due to disequilibrium caused by alcohol in the body which can be revealed by the HGN test. In dong the HGN, the officer would ask you if you are wearing contacts and tell you to follow instructions because failure to follow is allegedly an indication of alcohol impairment. The officer would ask you to follow a stimulus like a pen or finger then passes his finger side to side approximately 15 inches from your face at approximately four seconds a pass in order to determine if your eyes follow the stimulus smoothly and each eye tracks the stimulus equally which could be a symptom of a traumatic brain injury or brain disorder.

The officer would pass the stimulus in front your face at two second passes in order to look for twitching prior to the eye reaching a forty five degree angle from the nose. Finally, he would hold the pass at maximum deviation and looks for twitching before four seconds elapses. The officer would look for certain clues in each eye like twitching prior to the onset of forty five degrees, twitching at maximum deviation and if the eye pursues smoothly.

Tags: DUI, DUI arrest, DUI lawyer, field sobriety tests