Upon reasonable suspicion of impaired operation of a motor vehicle pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 20-16.2 OR an observed motor vehicle violation, a law enforcement officer may conduct a lawful traffic stop and detain the operator for field sobriety testing. Simply put, a policer officer who thinks you maybe driving drunk, will pull you over. Maybe you were weaving, speeding, or driving like your GPS is possessed and routing you in circles. Officers may administer standardized field sobriety tests (SFSTs) including the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, walk-and-turn test, and one-leg stand test, as established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration protocols. Again simply put, a police officer will ask you to follow a pen with your eyes (while looking for your eyes to twitch), walk a straight line heel-to-toe like you’re on a tightrope, and stand on one leg like an impaired flamingo. These diverted attention tests are designed to be difficult even for persons sober. At the conclusion of the field sobriety tests, if you are arrested you will be given the opportunity to take a breath test. You can refuse the breath test, but that will trigger a year civil suspension automatically on top of the 30 day suspension. And police officers have the power to get a search warrant under the circumstances and force a blood draw to get an accurate alcohol content result. After that you are generally brought before a magistrate judge and released.