Florida Board Certified Expert in Criminal Law - Broward County DUI Defense Lawyer HOME CONTACT LINKS OFFICE LOCATION SITEMAP Question: Why did the officer make me follow a penlight with my eyes to the left and right? ANSWER: This is the "horizontal gaze nystagmus" test, a relatively recent development in DUI investigation. The officer attempts to estimate the angle at which the eye begins to jerk ("nystagmus" is medical jargon for a distinctive eye oscillation); if this occurs sooner than 45 degrees, it theoretically indicates a blood-alcohol concentration over .05%. The smoothness of the eye's tracking the penlight (or finger or pencil) is also a factor, as is the type of jerking when the eye is as far to the side as it can go. This field sobriety test has proven to be subject to a number of different problems, not the least of which is the non-medically trained officer's ability to recognize nystagmus and estimate the angle of onset. Because of this and the fact that the test is not accepted by the medical community, it is not admissible in many states; it is, however, admissible in Florida, but is vulnerable to attack. 6 of 20 Previous | INDEX | Next These questions and associated answers have been adapted to Florida law with permission from Lawrence Taylor.

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