Symposium: Field Impairment Testing (FIT): Assessing Methodology to check for impairment
Date: Sunday August 26, 2007
Co-Chairs:
H Chip Walls, University of Miami, USA (HChipW@aol.com)
Dr. Michael O’Keefe, Glasgow, Scotland
Often we have more questions than answers when reviewing the evidence for a subject’s impairment.
- What defines impairment?
- How can impairment be detected in the field?
- Do laboratory-testing methodologies translate into effective field sobriety tests?
- What are the neurobiological underpinnings of the impairment tests?
- Can toxicological analyses define impairment?
- Are SFST validated for alcohol equally useful for suspected drug impaired drivers?
- Does FIT correlate to impaired driving skills?
- Can you pass or fail a FIT?
This symposium is about methodology to detect & document impairment in drivers allowing police officers to make arrest/no arrest decisions for impaired driving, form opinions, which justifies an arrest for DUI/DWI prior to biological sampling.
We will cover historical aspects of FIT, the neurobiology of cognition and coordination necessary for safe operation of a motor vehicle and the effects of alcohol and/or drugs on the central nervous system. Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) as sanction by the US National Highway Safety Administration using the Drug Evaluation and Classification program (DEC) using trained Drug Recognition Examiners (DREs) and as FIT is practiced in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Scandinavian countries and Australia will be presented, compared, and contrasted.
Drug abusing volunteers will be assessed by several FIT methodologies on the weekend before the workshop. Each subject will be professionally videotaped during the testing. Members of the faculty will evaluate the tapes and comment on the results during the final portion of the workshop: a guided roundtable discussion with the participants and faculty.