Field Sobriety Tests in Georgia: What the Officer Is Actually Scoring

By Ben Sessions on September 9th, 2026 in DUI / DWI

The roadside tests in a Georgia DUI stop are not a general assessment of coordination. Three of them are standardized evaluations developed under federal research protocols, with specific administrative procedures and specific scoring criteria.

They are also voluntary in Georgia. You are not required to perform them.

Horizontal gaze nystagmus

The officer moves a stimulus across your field of vision and watches your eyes for involuntary jerking. There are six possible clues, three per eye.

The procedure is precise. The stimulus must be held at a specified distance and moved at a specified speed, and each pass must take a minimum amount of time. Officers frequently move too fast. Nystagmus also has causes unrelated to alcohol, including certain medications, head injury, and neurological conditions.

Walk and turn

Nine heel-to-toe steps along a line, a specific turn, nine steps back, while counting aloud. Eight clues, and two are scored during the instruction phase — before you take a step. Losing balance while listening counts against you.

The test presumes a reasonably level, well-lit surface. The shoulder of a road at night, on a slope, in traffic, is not that.

One leg stand

One foot raised roughly six inches, counting aloud for thirty seconds. Four clues. Research validating the test acknowledged that age, weight, and certain physical conditions materially affect performance.

The tests that are not standardized

Reciting the alphabet, counting backward, finger to nose, and similar exercises have no validated scoring criteria. They are subjective, and an officer’s characterization of your performance is opinion rather than measurement.

Why administration matters

These tests were validated under specific conditions. When the procedure deviates, the correlation the research established weakens. That is the practical basis for challenging the results — not that the officer was dishonest, but that what was administered was not the validated test.

Whether the encounter was recorded, and what the recording actually shows, often matters more than what appears in the report.

If you have been arrested

Remember the 30-day deadline to protect your license, which runs separately from your court date. Ben Sessions is board certified in DUI defense by the National College for DUI Defense and has trained judges through the Institute of Continuing Judicial Education.

The Roadside Breath Test Is Different

Many officers also ask for a portable breath test at the roadside. Like the field sobriety tests, it is a screening tool. Its numeric reading is generally not admissible at trial, and declining it is not a refusal under the implied consent law. The breath test that counts is the Intoxilyzer 9000 test given after arrest, and a refusal of that test has its own consequences for your license. See DUI test refusal and implied consent.

How Field Sobriety Evidence Is Challenged

We compare the officer’s report with the video, the NHTSA manual, and the officer’s training records. The officer’s first sworn account usually comes at the ALS hearing, and challenges to the tests are raised in the criminal case at a DUI motions hearing. The deadline to request the ALS hearing is 30 days from arrest, so read what to do in the first 30 days.