Maryland Walk and Turn DUI Tests 

The Maryland walk and turn DUI test is exactly what it sounds like. The person walks, turns, and walk back. It is a series of nine steps, touching heel to toe along a straight line, which is either literally there, or the person has to imagine one. Sometimes, officers use the lines on the side of the road or lead the person to a parking lot where there are marks or spots where the person is imagining a line but, again, all those lines that are there and most people think of something just about as wide as their foot. Talk to a qualified Maryland DUI lawyer for more information.

Process of Maryland Walk and Turn DUI Test

The person has to stand with their right foot in front of them. The person does nine steps, touching heel to toe. What they do not tell the person is they do not actually have to touch the heels to the person’s toe but if the person is within about a half-inch, that is acceptable and the line does not have to be perfect. It can veer a little bit because, again, there is often no line there for the person in the first place, so the person has to use the best of their imagination to put it there.

Afterwards, they must go three steps but the person has to do nine. Police are starting to confuse the person and while the person is standing right foot in front of left, they are doing this test across the officer.  They start and they move towards the officer’s body. Now, once they say, “Put your right foot in front of your left,” that is one point of the eight points that they do in this test and they have to walk across the person.

If the person is watching the officer to see what they are doing, the person may very well take themselves off the line to rebalance. It could be difficult for someone who is sober. In this turn, they show the person their left foot is down, and it is a three-step pivot with person’s left foot in place with the right foot around, and then the person starts nine steps back.

Further Steps

Then the person turns away from the officer. If they watch the officer, again, that first point is marked down. The person has three more points on their walk on these nine steps with their head down, walking on a straight line, touching heel to toe without giving the person any further information or letting the person know that it does not have to be quite straight or that it does not have to be heel to toe.

The person should be counting each step but the person does not get to practice this ahead of time. They are probably nervous that the officer is there and the situation is stressful. Other officers can be present too. It is a nervewracking circumstance that may deter the Maryland DUI walk and turn test.

For this test, a person does nine steps, the person’s left foot hits, the person does three small steps, and then they come back for three more.  The person is scored out of eight points and they look to see if the person can follow the instructions, standing right foot in front of left, start when the person is told to, walk the entire time, keeping their balance, touching close to heel to toe as possible but the person’s arms – they cannot lift them up to gain balance, cannot take them more than six inches off the person’s body, or step off the line. Consult with a DUI attorney for more information on walk and turn tests in Maryland DUI cases.