How do people get away with tinting a windshield?

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

Illegally tinted windows may have many second and third hand effects. From impaired vision, especially at night, to being an enabler of felonious crimes. Both can lead to deaths of innocent people.

I see them , pretty much 100% blacked out tinted windowed vehicles all over , all the time. You CAN NOT see what is going on inside. First thing that always pops to mind: I would not want to be an LEO who , doing The Job may have to approach that automobile. LEOs , EMTs or just about anyone who comes into contact could be placing their lives in danger. There are laws all over restritcing this. LEOs who have the time and make a point to address , it can fine and even place a hold on these veichles in some places I have read. Problem is , even with the the laws on the books and some LEOs trying to address the law breaking issue , the numbers of these being seen all over just keeps growing and these tints getting darker and darker. I guess with all the LEOs who are chosing to retire for lack of respect , harrassements and all the accusations hurled against them there are not enough left these days to do anything but respond to dangerous acts in progress vs trying to clean up this type of issue that puts them in danger daily. On top of those places / people who install this illegally there are now even lots of new cars that come with it in place already BUT at least at legal limits.

 

[repairman54]

On my old job, retired now, my Co. van hit the over 250k mile mark and the trans. went so they would not fix it. They moved me into another truck that the previous no longer with us driver limo tinted the door windows. Divider wall with mesh on the center ''window'' also. On a sunny day you could not even read the dashboard as no side light came in illuminate it over the windshield light coming in. Half the dash lights were burnt out from lights being on for 150k miles constantly. At night you could not see the right-side mirror to back up and no power windows made it even more fun. I pulled that ''cool'' guy tint off ASAP.
Being on both sides of the fence tinting front windows dark is definitely a safety issue. It's a look at me I'm cool I want to look like a ''gangsta'' issue.
Sun medical exemption is lame for justification, there are UV glasses and UV clothing alternatives. If you have to wear the I just had cornea surgery glasses to protect your eyes, then so be it. A/C better? Like that black glass isn't hot and transferring heat. Doesn't work so well in the back of my factory tinted vehicles.

 

[grampi]

Illegally tinted windows may have many second and third hand effects. From impaired vision, especially at night, to being an enabler of felonious crimes. Both can lead to deaths of innocent people.

Around here we have vehicles with side windows that are tinted so dark you can't see through them at all, which I know is illegal. Would you want to be a cop and have to go up to someone's window when you can't see inside the vehicle? This posses great risk to police, which is why I don't understand them not enforcing the tint laws...

 

[John105]

I live in Pa and have been dumbfounded for years, but today I guess it combats dash cams etc. let’s face it there is still unsolvable hit and run. Tints help.

I went to the PD to have them attest that my license plate was illegible so I could get a new plate.

The officer smiled, signed it, and said I’ve never had anyone come in and so what you did. Most people like it when their plates are not readable.

 

[grampi]

Another thing people do around here is put those dark, tinted plexiglass covers over their license plate. So dark, you can't make out the plate number....I know that's illegal too, but yet LEOs do nothing about it...

 

[Thermo1223]

Another thing people do around here is put those dark, tinted plexiglass covers over their license plate. So dark, you can't make out the plate number....I know that's illegal too, but yet LEOs do nothing about it...

They'll use it as an excuse to stop them if they really think something nefarious is occurring but yes otherwise they ignore it here too.

 

[repairman54]

They'll use it as an excuse to stop them if they really think something nefarious is occurring but yes otherwise they ignore it here too.

And if you get pinched just over the speed limit or close to the acceptable local allowance or a light out unknowingly and your license is clean you will get a ticket instead of just a warning. It depends on the LEO and jurisdiction. NJSP stopped my wife one morning for a headlight out on the way to work. What the heck it was daylight, not too easy to notice that right? Just a warning but after she said there were 2 in the car, I knew it was rookie training time.

 

[TiGeo]

Depends on your state laws. Here in VA, for passenger vehicles, it's 50% fronts/35% rears no windshield tint (why do people say "tints"?) beyond a strip along the top. My Golf and Focus have the 50/35 setup (no windshield). My W8 has 35 all around (no windshield)....the difference between 35 and 50 is minimal. I got the fronts on the Atlas tinted to 50%; it's an SUV so the rears are already died (it's not tint from the factory) and it's about 20-35% I would guess equivalent.

Tint is no longer a primary here which is nice so you can't get pulled over solely b/c the officer thinks your tint is too dark....it's why I went a bit darker on the Passat at 35% and would have done that on my Sportwagen too.

I've used ceramic tint by Llumar on the Golf and Atlas...great stuff, keeps internal temps down in the summer vs. the basic tint I have on the Passat and Focus.

My father-in-law has a tinted windshield - he has a "doctor's note"/waiver for a skin condition. He has been pulled for it several times prior to it becoming a secondary offense. It's very dark all around and he is quite honeslty overly-paranoid about the skin cancer thing; he has far more risk driving a car with that dark of tint at night at his age (80). I've tried and tried to explain to him that the windshield is made with a chemical (titanium dioxide) to prevent UV light from transmitting through it and that the darkness of the tint doens't equate to how much UV you are blocking.

I can understand the LEO safety concerns with limo-dark tint...they can't see what is going on inside the car for traffic stops.

 

[TiGeo]

There are medical exemptions occasionally where a person cannot be exposed to the sun that would come into the vehicle because of a skin condition. It used to be that Pennsylvania would issue those exemptions if a doctor signed off on a form. After 9/11 very very few people have been able to get that exemption even if they have a valid reason for it. But still that's probably less than 1% of the vehicles out there that are driving around with tinted windows all the way around. I know of one medical exemption case and after 9/11 they simply could not get the state to sign off on making it legal with the exemption even though they acquired that exemption on a vehicle they own before 9/11. So after 9/11 when they had to retire the previous vehicle and acquired another vehicle they simply had it done and paid cash.

Btw, the incident that I'm talking about was not a person initially having a skin condition but having a skin condition because of a side effect of a medication that they have to take on a regular basis.

My father-in-law here in VA has the medical exemption and has a tinted winshield.

 

[TiGeo]

Lets continue with lifted vehicles and the law.

Start a thread, should get spicy!

 

[John105]

Another thing people do around here is put those dark, tinted plexiglass covers over their license plate. So dark, you can't make out the plate number....I know that's illegal too, but yet LEOs do nothing about it...

It’s a thing in phila. Beats red light cams, speed cams, dash cams, tolls, prevents apprehension of hit and run. But what’s so curious is knowing the above, why they’re ok.

 

[TiGeo]

Windshield tint is so, so dumb and should be ticketed IMO. The previous owner of my Yukon tinted it really dark all the way around including the windshield and I just couldn't see out at night so I ripped off the windshield tint.

Why? At 35-50% for sides/rear...keeps interior cool, minimal impact to night driving. Love it. Hate the fishbowl look of un-tinted windows. I'm not talking about limo tint here which I also think is "dumb" b/c I don't understand how you safely see at night. Here in VA the light transmission limit is 35% for rears and 50% for fronts, these two are that (ok..the Passat is also 35% front...50 is really light..tough to see in the pics but the blue car's front windows are a touch darker looking). Neither car below has a tinted windshield nor would I want one.

 

[NJ01MGM]

Irks me too. Nobody would drive with super-dark sunglasses at night but this seems to be the new cool thing I guess? Definitely not legal here in NJ, but I've seen a real uptick in cars with tinted windshields over the past two or three years. I'm guessing LE doesn't want to be bothered with stupid things like this because maybe the trouble isn't worth it? Also, many I see have the gold shield...

 

[grampi]

Irks me too. Nobody would drive with super-dark sunglasses at night but this seems to be the new cool thing I guess? Definitely not legal here in NJ, but I've seen a real uptick in cars with tinted windshields over the past two or three years. I'm guessing LE doesn't want to be bothered with stupid things like this because maybe the trouble isn't worth it? Also, many I see have the gold shield...

I would think the side and rear windows being tinted would be more of a concern LEOs as those are what they need to be able to see through when approaching a stopped vehicle.

 

[ZZman]

All departments are short handed now. Traffic enforcement is often low priority. Also a nice car with tinted windows is less likely to be stopped/ticketed then a ratty car.

 

[John105]

All departments are short handed now. Traffic enforcement is often low priority. Also a nice car with tinted windows is less likely to be stopped/ticketed then a ratty car.

Is this the conventional wisdom, meaning word on the street?

A couple weeks ago an Altima was pulled over literally at the end of our driveway, 7 police vehicles there with guns drawn. Then the driver was allowed to drive away. This seems to be the complete opposite of the above, or yes, my town is overstaffed. Just extreme, I can't imagine being pulled over, a gun pointed at me, then I simply go about my business. I've watched a lot of tv drama over the years and if this were tv the driver would be on his way to central booking based on the interaction.

 

[JimPghPA]

Start a thread, should get spicy!

And another one for vehicles that have tires that extend out past the side of the vehicle with no extended wheel wells to catch stones that they fling up in the air with their knobby tires.

Back in the '70s if the tire extended out past the wheel well at all you could just about be guaranteed of being pulled over and given a ticket and told to fix it so that that wasn't going on anymore. Nowadays, I see vehicles with the tires extending out as much as half of the width of the tire and it seems like they can drive that way forever without getting a ticket. But that's another thread that we don't have going yet.

 

[TiGeo]

And another one for vehicles that have tires that extend out past the side of the vehicle with no extended wheel wells to catch stones that they fling up in the air with their knobby tires.

Back in the '70s if the tire extended out past the wheel well at all you could just about be guaranteed of being pulled over and given a ticket and told to fix it so that that wasn't going on anymore. Nowadays, I see vehicles with the tires extending out as much as half of the width of the tire and it seems like they can drive that way forever without getting a ticket. But that's another thread that we don't have going yet.

I'm with you, can't stand the look but that's subjective but the rocks kicking up..yeah...please cover those tires!

 

[John105]

And another one for vehicles that have tires that extend out past the side of the vehicle with no extended wheel wells to catch stones that they fling up in the air with their knobby tires.

Back in the '70s if the tire extended out past the wheel well at all you could just about be guaranteed of being pulled over and given a ticket and told to fix it so that that wasn't going on anymore. Nowadays, I see vehicles with the tires extending out as much as half of the width of the tire and it seems like they can drive that way forever without getting a ticket. But that's another thread that we don't have going yet.

Back in the 80's you could be pulled out of your car through the window just for mouthing off, and end up in a fist fight with a cop (and lose). this time it's not from watching TV drama, I know from real life! But although this is gonna sound cliche, it builds character. Kids today can't ever get that first hand experience anymore. They can get mouthy with cops and teachers and nothing can be done.

 

[Trav]

I’m not getting what 9/11 has to do with Drs signing off on window tint??

So the bomb tosser inside can be seen.