National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (nhtsa)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA has been tasked by the United State's Government with "saving lives, preventing injuries and reducing vehicle-related crashes". The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is part of the Department of Transportation and is tasked with many activities including researching traffic safety issues such as: impaired driving, distracted driving, five-star crash ratings, fuel economy, seat belts, teen driving, senior driving, and child safety.

Research sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also has contributed to improving the methods and processes used by law enforcement officers to assist in the enforcement of drinking and driving laws. Although regional differences still exist, the NHTSA has helped to largely replace many invalidated tests with standardized field sobriety testing which include the walk-and-turn test, the one-leg-stand and the HGN test (horizontal gaze nystagmus). These three field sobriety tests have become the standard pre-arrest procedures for evaluating DUI in most cities across the United States.