Many California DUI arrests are triggered by Black-and-White Fever

California DUI officers create and spread something called "black-and-white fever.".

That phenomenon is logically the normal reaction of most drivers to being followed by a marked police car (usually painted black and white).

When the citizen driver becomes cognizant that a police car is following him or her, he or she becomes reasonably apprehensive and increasingly focuses his or her attention on the marked police car in the rear view mirror.

As the California DUI officer continues to follow, the driver becomes stressed and his or her concentration on pure driving is interrupted. He or she keeps his eyes more on the mirror and less on the road ahead. When the driver brings back his or her eyes forward to the road, he or she finds that he or she has drifted somewhat. Now he or she must correct the travel of the vehicle back to the center of the lane.

What happens establishes probable cause for the stop: drifting, straddling or weaving, and possibly somewhat erratic movements such as sudden increases or decreases in speed (e.g. tension making one's shoe let up on the gas). Coincidentally, these are some of the most commonly encountered symptoms of a California DUI / drunk driver on the road.

Thus, the California DUI officer's very existence or approach creates the probable cause for suspecting a DUI.

Once the California drunk driving officer pulls the driver over, the officer gets out and approaches the car with the very human preconception that the driver is probably intoxicated. Of course, the first thing the California DUI officer senses is an odor of alcohol (although an odor alone is legally & factually insufficient).

Like a bowling ball rolling down a lane, California DUI officers then see what they psychologically look to see: normally veined eyes appear bloodshot or red; normal but nervous speech sounds slurred; normal pink complexion is flushed; and the tense exit from the vehicle to some dark, unknown surface reveals an unsteady gait.

The California Drunk Driving officer's observations are inevitably followed by subjective and unreliable acrobatics or gymnastics, aka FST's or California DUI field sobriety tests, which are tough to do even under the best of conditions. The conclusion finishes with an often preconceived goal - the California DUI arrest.