window tint rant

[shadow_dog]

Got to vent. I got popped Friday for a window tint repair warning on my 09 GT. I have had the tint on the car for over a year now. I drive it to all the same places, work etc. On my way home from work a local stopped me and gave me a warning/repair ticket. I know I have passed this same officer dozens of times before. What makes me even madder is I have seen "homies" pass him with limo tint, and just go on.

[VforVIBE]

It happens, I usually try to drive with my 23% too dark front windows down when possible or the sunroof open... the truth is, you knew when you got the tint it was illegal and you knew it was a possibility you might get caught for it... and I'm sure some of those other car owners get tickets for their tint as well.

[jasony0423]

That's one of the joys of living in SW Ohio. I used to live in Georgetown, in brown County and it was all they cops wanted to do was go after illegal window tint. Luckily, mine wasn't ever tinted.

[lowincash]

yup like VforVibe says, you are taking your chances with the law when you get the front windows tinted. they do have the right to pull you over for just tint. i took that chance too and got away with it for maybe 8-9 months then finally got pulled over for it and gave me a fix it. i didn't want to deal with the hassle anymore so i got light tint all around now lol i had 20% before but now i'm only 40%

[star_deceiver]

You should move here, cops don't give a damn about anything. Red light runners, speeders, hov violators, DUI (DWI), as long as you don't go yelling in a rich neigbourhood or (removed) off the wrong person you'll be fine... loud exhaust doesn't matter either! Cops here are lazy!

[L5K]

It seems loud exhaust only matters here if you are in a car. If you're on a wobbly chopper with no mufflers at all and it sounds like it's going to die when idling then apparently you're fine.

[vibolista]

I moved from Montana to Maine in 1995. I had a 92 Suzuki Swift that I used as my commute scoot. I bought the car and had the glass tinted in Montana before I ever knew I would be moving to Maine one day in the future. It wasn't even close to limo tint and I used the same tint all the way around. Fast foreward to the year 2000. Wife and I take the Suz out in the late afternoon/early evening to get an ice cream cone and take a look at the new (back then) PT Cruiser that just arrived at a dealer a few miles away. We crawled by a Trooper that was giving someone a ticket. I had just mentioned to my wife, how in the world could you get at ticket in this kind of traffic that was moving very slowly at 15 mph in a 25 mph zone. About 40 feet farther down the road I see the bright Trooper car lights flashing behind us a couple of cars back so I light the right blinkers and start to drift to the curb to get out of the way and let the Trooper by. Now I mention to my wife, who would this guy be after in this slow traffic, now?Next thing is see is the Trooper pulling in behind me. He had a trainee with him and after the formalities of showing license and registration, he asks me about my windows. I had no idea that they might be too dark for Maine. He went back to his car an brought a light transmissivity meter!!! Put it on my front window and... guilty as charged. The limit in Maine is 50%. My tint was 45%. 5% too dark. I got a fix it ticket. So I had to take it off, because I didn't want to have to live the rest of my life with a tinting infringement on my permanent record.My old pickup truck has factory tint, and it was way darker than the Suz aftermarket tint... but that's ok. We had a Minivan back then, too, and it had even darker factory tint. So as you see, these tint laws don't make much sense and generally just give law enforcement something to do, instead of going after real criminals. Sorry about the long rant, but I feel your pain, here in Maine!

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »So as you see, these tint laws don't make much sense and generally just give law enforcement something to do, instead of going after real criminals. I do agree that giving a ticket for 5% is stupid, however, I completely disagree with the above statement. The tint laws were made so that officers could still see inside of the vehicle, if someone had limo tint, how is an officer or anyone else for that matter suppose to see if someone inside the car has a weapon?Should the law be the same from state to state? it's hard to say, some states really need it darker to keep the sun out, but it would really make life easier for people moving out of state.

[KNINE]

Dark tint makes it easier for Buccaneer fans to hide in shame.

[jasony0423]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »I do agree that giving a ticket for 5% is stupid, however, I completely disagree with the above statement. The tint laws were made so that officers could still see inside of the vehicle, if someone had limo tint, how is an officer or anyone else for that matter suppose to see if someone inside the car has a weapon?Should the law be the same from state to state? it's hard to say, some states really need it darker to keep the sun out, but it would really make life easier for people moving out of state.I realize that that's what the PR people at police stations say in response to people complaining about window tint laws, but the truth is, window tint has no measurable effect on an officers view into the car, in relation to things like weapons. Yes, I'll be able to see into the back seat, and see that open container of beer you've got on the backseat floorboard. A weapon is probably not going to just be sitting on the dash, so either way, it'll be out of view, until the officer is right on the vehicle. With that, I agree that tint laws are simple money makers.

[vibolista]

The reason the law is stupid... you can have dark limo tint from the factory. Really dark tint... like the one on my old Nissan truck. Or the van that my wife drove during the kid years.But, the 45% tint on my commuter car was quite light and you could easily see what was going on inside the car. I see factory limo tint all over the place, on SUVs, taxis, and even on all kinds of goofy "limo" vehicles. The kind of tint that you can't see anything through, but, if it's factory, it's legal. So the law is slightly flawed? As it stands in most states, it doesn't make sense, and is stupid, or stupidly interpreted.

[shemp]

I got mine tinted last spring.... so far I haven't received any unwanted attention from the boys in blue (knocks on wood).Here in MI, you can have any tint you want on any window aft of the driver, but no tint is allowed on the side windows and windshield. I went a little lighter on the fronts in hopes that they wouldn't look tinted. ...also as a previous poster mentioned, I usually keep my sunroof shade open to make them appear lighter.If I get popped, I'll have to have it removed, but at least I'll get to enjoy it until then.You can't really get mad at the cop, he's just doing his job. You could argue that he put his time (and your tax $) to better use, but that's up for debate.

[snoops]

The tinted windows look awesome. But I found with my old mazda that it was hard to see anything when backing up at night so I'll avoid it for now.

[VforVIBE]

Quote, originally posted by K-NINE »Dark tint makes it easier for Buccaneer fans to hide in shame. How true, how true... I've given up on them.