Orange County DUI Driving Symptoms
Typically, the first sign that draws a police officer's attention to a potential drunk driver is the suspect's driving. California Highway Patrol and Orange County officers are trained to look for certain driving symptoms. Many officers have been trained with the help of publications from the federal government (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The pamphlet, entitled Guide for Detecting Drunk Drivers at Night: A DUI Detection Guide, is based on federal studies that have identified twenty of the most common indicators of drunken driving.
The indicators or drunken driving, listed below, also includes the probabilities that the suspect is intoxicated. For example, is the suspect is turning with a wide radius, 65 out of 100 times this occurs, the driver is intoxicated with a level of .10% (the research was conducted before blood-alcohol levels were dropped to .08 percent).
| Making a Turn with a Wide Radius | 65 |
| Straddling Center or Lane Makers | 65 |
| Appearance of being Drunk | 60 |
| Nearly an Object or Vehicle | 60 |
| Weaving Through Traffic | 60 |
| Driving on Other Than Designated Roadway | 55 |
| Swerving | 55 |
| Slow Speed (more than 10 mph below limit) | 50 |
| Stopping (without cause) in Traffic Lane | 50 |
| Drifting | 50 |
| Tailgating | 45 |
| Tires on Center or Lane Maker | 45 |
| Braking Erratically | 45 |
| Driving Into Opposing or Crossing Traffic | 45 |
| Signaling Inconsistent with Driving Actions | 40 |
| Stopping Inappropriately (other than in lane) | 35 |
| Turning Abruptly or Illegally | 35 |
| Accelerating or Decelerating Rapidly | 30 |
| Headlights Off (When driving at night) | 30 |
It has also been found by researchers that the chances of an individual being intoxicated when two more symptoms are being observed can be calculated using these numbers.
The research also found that the chances of a driver being intoxicated when multiple symptoms are observed can also be calculated. When multiple signs are being observed, add 10 to the highest value among the group of signs being observed. For example, if the subject is observed to be straddling a breaking erratically (45) and stopping inappropriately (35), there is 55 in 100 chances that the individual has a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 percent or more. Of course, this also means that 45 out of 100 drivers who are breaking erratically and stopping inappropriately are NOT under the influence.
