Left-Turn Creeps

Russ Carpenter

Manassas

Roadside Sobriety Tests

Dear Dr. Gridlock:

I am a volunteer with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and have spent many hours observing local DUI checkpoints. I had to laugh at the writer who was complaining about being unable to do the one-legged stand even when sober.

The one-legged stand is not easy to do; however, it is but one tool used to observe a suspected impaired driver.

When a driver is pulled over for a traffic violation, alcohol use can be easily detected by smell and observation. A driver will be asked to perform the field sobriety tests -- on level ground -- and is always asked if there is any physical reason the tests cannot be performed. Shoes can be removed during the tests.

If the driver fails the field sobriety tests, he or she will be asked to blow into the breathalyzer equipment.

I suggest that no one should refuse because, if the driver failed the field tests due only to awkwardness or fear, the breathalyzer will show that they are not legally impaired.

If they are not legally impaired, the driver will go home. And if the breathalyzer shows that the driver is, in fact, legally impaired, the driver will be arrested and removed from the road.

I have seen checkpoints with as many as 22 arrests. I believe that most of us are glad that impaired drivers are taken off the roads before they kill or hurt someone.

Leslie Thomas

Annapolis

Transportation researcher Diane Mattingly contributed to this column.

Dr. Gridlock appears Thursday in The Extra and Sunday in the Metro section. You can write to Dr. Gridlock at 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. He prefers to receive e-mail, atdrgridlock@washpost.com, or faxes, at 703-352-3908. Include your full name, town, county and day and evening telephone numbers.