Lack of sleep looks and acts like intoxication. Fatigue or lack of sleep slow reaction time, make you unsteady on your feet and can affect speech as well as other cranial nerve functions.
These are the same issues looked at by an arresting officer during a DUI roadside evaluation. There are standardized field sobriety tests that the arresting officer will administer and score. Two of these tests are divided attention tests where there is an instruction phase followed by the performance phase. The walk and turn, for example, has the subject stand with one foot in front of the other, hands at their side, while listening and observing the instructions. Then the subject performs the test. The judging includes both the instruction phase and the performance phase.
Alcohol, at a certain level, will prevent a subject from doing the test correctly. Likewise, fatigue will also affect the performance of divided attention testing.
Fatigue usually occurs after 18 hours of sustained wakefulness.
Workplace studies have shown that fatigue can mimic the reaction time and field study results of an alcohol concentration between .05 and .10% BAC.
The only difference between the fatigued individual and a person under the influence of alcohol is the odor of alcohol!
Otherwise, the scoring on the police standardized field tests and other time reaction testing are very similar between the fatigued person and the drinker.
American, Canadian and Australian work place studies are all in agreement that a person awake for more than 18 hours will have slower reaction times, be more uncoordinated and have trouble with simple commands, such as give me your driver’s license. This means that driving while fatigued can be dangerous.
This has been a subject of concern for the US Department of Transportation. Tired, unattentive or fatigued drivers are involved in more accidents and traffic violations than alert, well rested drivers. This might fit the description of reckless driving.
This is very different than driver under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Dr. Joseph Citron received his Medical Doctorate (MD) degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1971. After completing his residency training in ophthalmology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, Dr. Citron established a surgical practice in Atlanta where he became a Board Certified Ophthalmologist. During his career as a practicing physician, Dr. Citron held various positions that included chief of staff of Atlanta Hospital and an AMA delegate from Georgia. Additionally, Dr. Citron lectured on surgical techniques and results at National and International conferences.
Dr. Citron received his J.D. from Georgia State College of Law and combines his knowledge of medicine with the practical aspects of law in several areas. He is a consulting attorney in medical malpractice and nursing home abuse cases, an active litigating attorney, and an expert witness.
Dr. Citron’s most recent publication appears in the June 2007 issue of the Champion, a monthly journal for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and discusses the mis-application of the Romberg test administered by police in road-side sobriety tests.
He is admitted to practice before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and all Georgia state trial and appellate courts.
Should you find yourself in a DUI/DWI situation in Virginia you can contact Michael Tillotson for a FREE No obligation Case Evaluation by contacting our office today. Michael C. Tillotson, LLC – DUI Defense Attorneys in Virginia. Office 757.969.5197 visit http://www.VaDWIDefenders.com or email at info@vaduilawyer.org
