Drunk driving is a serious problem. Even an ounce of alcohol can a driver’s slow reaction times and dull their decision-making skills. To discern whether a driver is driving under the influence (DUI), police use tools like standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs) and breathalyzers. Unfortunately, roadside blood alcohol concentration assessments can, and often do, lead to wrongful arrests. And affected motorists are hopping mad.

Falsely accused TN drivers are angry over wrongful DUI arrests after sobriety tests and refused requests for breathalyzers

I rode along with a police officer in central Texas during a night shift. As you might imagine, the city came to life with what you might expect. There were emergency calls for home alarm systems, a car crash or two, and of course, DUI suspects. The police officer I rode with told me that he typically looks for vehicles with their lights off, swerving, or delayed reactions. We stopped one motorist for the former, but after a short interaction, the officer sent him on his way. No harm done. 

However, if an officer suspects inebriation, they may request that the motorist take a sobriety test. The standardized version of the test, an SFST, involves three individual assessments to test a driver’s balance, motor function, and reactions. In Tennessee, many agencies rely on sobriety tests and those tests alone. Therein lies the issue, sober people fail these tests all the time.

For instance, Sheli Hoover was recently arrested under the suspicion of a DUI. Hoover told authorities that she wasn’t drunk and consented to a field sobriety test. Unfortunately, Hoover failed the test. Consequently, she asked for a breathalyzer to prove her sobriety, per WSMV. The Tennessee police officers refused the request, citing that they don’t use them.

It was a similar story for Vietnam veteran David Dutton. Police pulled him over for an inoperative tail light and “crossing into the shoulder.” Like Hoover, police arrested Dutton after he failed a balance element of a sobriety test. As a result, the 76-year-old veteran spent six hours in a jail cell.

Soberingly, Fox 17 Nashville reports that “most law enforcement agencies in Middle Tennessee don’t use breathalyzers on scene.” Now, Dutton is suing the two police officers and the county agency that arrested him. Dutton, who said he prefers drinking tea to alcohol when playing billiards, claims officers ignored his disclosure that he had back and balance issues that would prevent him from successfully passing a field sobriety test.

Dutton isn’t alone, either. He’s just one of “hundreds of people arrested” for a DUI without alcohol in their systems. As a result, drivers are suing law enforcement agencies, counties, and individual police officers for their wrongful arrests.