Police must adopt field sobriety tests to clamp down on drunk drivers – Benn

In an effort to clamp down on drunk driving on the roadways, Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn has called for ranks of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to start employing the field sobriety tests (FSTs)

FSTs are standardised mental and physical tests used by law enforcement officers worldwide to assess if a person is impaired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. They typically include the walk-and-turn, one-leg stand, and horizontal gaze nystagmus tests. They are designed to determine if someone is intoxicated, and they are performed by police officers during traffic stops when a driver is suspected of impaired driving.

In Guyana, if a traffic rank suspects a driver of driving under the influence of alcohol, a breathalyzer test is conducted but according to the home affairs minister, the sole reliance on these devices is ineffective.

He pointed to cases whereby drunk drivers are charged but get off scot-free when their lawyers argue that the breathalyzer devices are not calibrated.

“My position is we can get as much breathalyzers as we want and then some ‘Smart Alex’ who got money and thing can get some lawyer to say it wasn’t calibrated,” Benn contended.

He was at the time speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Inspectors’ and Sergeants’ Conference 2025 held at the Guyana Police Force’s Mess Annex at Eve Leary on Wednesday

“We have to adopt the field sobriety tests for people,” Benn said.

“We have to make them walk out and see if their eye following the finger, if they can count from ten to one, if they can walk a straight line to see if they are in a condition to drive,” he explained.