NCJ Number
144773
Date Published
1991
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video instructs police officers in the technique of the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test, a field sobriety test, and its legal status.
Abstract
Through interviews and narrator commentary, this video traces the history of the HGN test as a standardized field sobriety test. The test gained its stature from research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This research tested the reliability of various field sobriety tests and found three tests to be the most reliable: the walk-and-turn test, the one-leg stand, and the HGN. The HGN proved to be the most reliable test. The HGN detects involuntary jerking of the eyeball when it moves from side to side. When a person is intoxicated, the jerking is greatly exaggerated. To detect this, an officer holds up a pen or other object in front of the driver and asks that person "to follow it with your eyes." If the jerky movement is present, many courts have accepted this as probable cause to believe the driver is intoxicated. The narrator reviews court cases that bear upon the legal status of the test in various States. Some State courts have held that the HGN test complies with the Frye requirements for accepting new scientific findings.