Got ticket for tinted window

[eliems]

Here in Vancouver BC the law allows "Factory Tint" but after-market tint is illegal!

The cop will feel the tint to see if it is a film laid onto the glass and if so ... $90 fine.

 

[AZTVR]

I was wondering why no one seems to tint their windshield for the looks of it ?

People do illegal tints on their side windows, headlights, and brake lights, etc; but, I never hear about people complaining about getting pulled over for illegal windshield tint. Why does the government think they need to make that illegal ? They don't know that you don't drive after dark !

Post up your pictures of your windshiekd tint !

 

[97GTS]

The tint on my black car is as dark as they make it. Looks good on the car, keeps a s#!tload of heat out, and keeps people from seeing inside. I WILL keep it, but I will roll both windows down if pulled over. It is harder to see out at night but, it makes me pay more attention to what is going on as well.


Ron

 

[CitySnake]

Set up an LLC in Montana. Register your cars under the LLC. Montana has no state inspection, no excise tax on cars, and no sales tax. Think about that next time you want to buy a new car. Headers, mods, no problem. $1000 to set it up then registration fees on the cars which vary by year. Older cars get permanent registration. Seems like a good deal to me. I googled it. Your home state can't really do to much about it either after all you're driving a company car. Company just happens to be based in Montana. Google Deer Creek, Helena MT.

This is a valid option for some, but for anyone considering this, do some thorough research first! A year or so back, I was THIS close to pulling the trigger on doing this for my vehicles, but just as I was getting all of my ducks in a row, the NY legislature put a provision in their annual budget bill that killed this. (I *could* have still done it, but I still would have owed the sales tax to NY, so it didn't make financial sense to do so from that aspect, but even less palatable in my case is, because I was looking to transfer vehicles that I already own, once the LLC owned them and I drove them in NY, the state could have forced me to pay sales tax on them *again*. Having to pay it once was bad enough!) The main reason I was looking into this was to avoid NY's annoying annual inspections, also many of my vehicles are older and thus could have qualified for a lifetime plate in MT, unlike NY where registration fees are due every 2 years; the sales tax avoidance was just a really nice bonus. Avoiding the annual inspections wasn't worth the "double taxation" risk to me though, so I had to pull the plug on the idea.

Anyway, the socialist states are getting wise to these Montana vehicle LLCs, so if you are looking to go this route, be very careful and do your homework!

Of course I'm too lazy to confirm this, but I am pretty sure that in many states, this is far from being as simple as suggested. In NYS, you can get ticketed via the argument that while you are using your Montana registered vehicle in NYS (certainly for any exteneded period of time), you will need a front license plate. When you go to traffic court, you'll need to prove that you use the car in Montana ... i.e., you loose.

 

[TowDawg]

I was wondering why no one seems to tint their windshield for the looks of it ?

People do illegal tints on their side windows, headlights, and brake lights, etc; but, I never hear about people complaining about getting pulled over for illegal windshield tint. Why does the government think they need to make that illegal ? They don't know that you don't drive after dark !

Post up your pictures of your windshiekd tint !

I had 5% on the back and side windows on my old Benz, and 35% on the windshield. I will see if I can find some old pics of it. You did notice it a little at night, but man was it worth it during the day. I never had to wear sunglasses and it kept the car a LOT cooler in the summer.
That is the car I mentioned getting pulled over in. The cop never mentioned the windshield (probably never entered his mind), but that's probably why I got pulled in the first place. If you were approching me head on, you could hardly see me inside the car through the windshield. I have actually notice quite a few cars around my area that have this done. I never got bothered by the local cops about it at all. Although, if I came up behind one, I would open the sunroof and turn on all the interior lights.

 

[TowDawg]

Here ya go. Excuse the lovely apartments in the background. That was temporary living while I built the current house.

 

[eucharistos]

I was wondering why no one seems to tint their windshield for the looks of it ?

People do illegal tints on their side windows, headlights, and brake lights, etc; but, I never hear about people complaining about getting pulled over for illegal windshield tint. Why does the government think they need to make that illegal ? They don't know that you don't drive after dark !

Post up your pictures of your windshiekd tint !

windshield tint a legal here

 

[TowDawg]

windshield tint a legal here

I atcually don't know of anywhere that it IS legal to tint the entire windshield. It makes it a lot nicer in the sun and the hot summers we get here. I'll probably do it on my new DD before too long.

 

[TAXIMAN1]

I read the title, and said "its gotta be either CA or NJ" LOL.. sad...

the town I lived in NJ was similar to ****, Germany. So, I feel your pain.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

I've gotten two tickets for that on my Suburban

 

[TowDawg]

I've gotten two tickets for that on my Suburban

Do you have a house somewhere else, or did FL change their laws? When I lived in GA, I kept my cars registered in FL because there was no ad valorem tax and no window tint regulation.

 

[eucharistos]

Here ya go. Excuse the lovely apartments in the background. That was temporary living while I built the current house.

does look nice

 

[Cop Magnet]

What about sunglasses then?? This argument makes no sense to me. I can honestly say I can detect no difference between my car with tint and my non-tinted Viper when I'm sitting inside. At night however, headlights in my rear view mirror are noticeably dimmer.

That is just plain funny.
You admit you notice a difference at night, but base your argument on the fact you can wear REMOVABLE sunglasses during the day and not get a ticket??

 

[Viperless]

That is just plain funny.
You admit you notice a difference at night, but base your argument on the fact you can wear REMOVABLE sunglasses during the day and not get a ticket??

I think you're mixing two separate thoughts here. That's not even close to what I was trying to say. The way I wrote it may not be very clear though.

I'm saying the insurance company's argument that window tint obscures a driver's outward visibility makes no sense to me because sunglasses do the same if not more to obscure your vision. And apparently they have no issue with sunglasses. Because sunglasses are removable seems irrelevant to me.

Yes, headlights are noticably dimmer in my rear view mirror at night through my tinted glass. But comparing daylight observations to nightime observations is like comparing apples to oranges. It's a....well, night and day difference.

 

[slaughterj]

I thought one of the reasons for not allowing dark tint on side windows is so when a cop has a car pulled over he can see in when walking up to the car.

The problem is, that takes away your rights to privacy as a citizen. The government says:
1. What the government can see in public is not private, and does not count as a search.
2. You can't tint your car's windows, so you can't keep your car's interior private.
Therefore, you lose much of your rights to privacy in the car. Many of country's founding fathers appropriately spoke poorly about giving up some liberties such as privacy in exchange for a little safety - "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." / Benjamin Franklin

Perhaps we should all just live in glass houses too, so the government can watch everything and make sure their agents are safe when they approach?

 

[slaughterj]

Set up an LLC in Montana. Register your cars under the LLC. Montana has no state inspection, no excise tax on cars, and no sales tax. Think about that next time you want to buy a new car. Headers, mods, no problem. $1000 to set it up then registration fees on the cars which vary by year. Older cars get permanent registration. Seems like a good deal to me. I googled it. Your home state can't really do to much about it either after all you're driving a company car. Company just happens to be based in Montana. Google Deer Creek, Helena MT.

Yeah, but does MT require a front plate? And doesn't that mean you have to go to MT every time you need to deal with something adminstratively like registering the vehicle there?

 

[Jon]

Yeah, but does MT require a front plate? And doesn't that mean you have to go to MT every time you need to deal with something adminstratively like registering the vehicle there?

Yes, I believe MT does require a front plate. I doubt that your local cops could issue you a ticket for it though; wouldn't that be outside of their jurisdiction? It doesn't seem logical that police in one state would have the legal authority to issue a ticket for a violation of another state's regulations, only for a violation of their own state's V&TL.

Regarding the second part of your question, when you set up your Montana LLC, you will have a registered agent in MT. Usually your registered agent can take care of any of the footwork that would require a physical presence in MT. (Generally, at an additional fee.) Back when I was considering this option, I found a county with a DMV office that could do everything through the mail/fax. If you want to do that, you will need to find a registered agent who is located in such a county. (Also, each county's registration fees and such vary quite a bit, so its important to find a "friendly" county for that reason as well.)

 

[mjf6175]

If you are stopped in "another" State (a State other than the one in which the vehicle is registered in) you can receive a ticket for having only one plate on a vehicle if the State in which the vehicle is registered requires 2 plates-no matter what State you are stopped in. In fact you can receive a summons for only one plate on a vehicle (registered in a State requiring 2 plates) if you where stopped in a State that itself only uses one plate for vehicles registered within that State. Most State DMV laws require any vehicle operated within its borders to display the proper number of plates issued by another State. Just as you can receive a ticket for not having a valid inspection (if it was expired) on your NY registered car while driving in Florida if stopped.

The bottom line way to interpret this is that most (if not all) States have a DMV law that requires you to display the proper number of plates for the State that a vehicle is registered in.

 

[YLW DRM2]

Didn't mean to stir up so much commotion on the forum, but I think the tinted windows is a painful topic for lots of us.
Let me make it clear, I put the tinted windows on the car for two reasons, it looks good and it protects me from direct sun, especially with Viper visor which you can't move to the side. I drove Viper for good year and a half before finally putting tint on the windows (only been driving with it for 6 months). I did not put limo tint for the same reason as many people stated here before, I wanted to have better visibility at night and I wanted people to see who is driving it , so I don't have complete can't see through window tint, I believe it is 20% tint, while limo is 5% tint (or light through as they say) and legal is 35% tint which is really hard to say if it is tinted or not.
Officer actually pulled in to the shopping mall with me and I stepped out of the vehicle when he approached me. I was very polite with the officer I explained to him that this is a show vehicle, which I drive very rarely on the street and I live only two blocks away from the mall and the only reason I took it out is to give my dad a ride in it (who visited me) for the first time. Nope nothing worked.

I don't know how much this ticket is for yet as I am yet to receive it in the mail.

I heard that there are some ways that one can argue and win in the court for this kind of ticket. Anybody else heard or know about "those" ways?

 

[TowDawg]

If he used his meter to get a reading on the tint, I don't know how you would be able to win in court. If you find a way, let everyone else know.

 

[YLW DRM2]

If he used his meter to get a reading on the tint, I don't know how you would be able to win in court. If you find a way, let everyone else know.

Nope he didn't use any device at all to measure tint level.

 

[SR 27]

Tear the tint off, velcro the plate on and get the ticket signed off.

 

[dipapa]

California Traffic Tickets Fines 2010 - Mr. Ticket Traffic Ticket Attorney Lawyer Los Angeles California

 

[TrackAire]

Right around the corner will be tinting that is electronically activated to be "dark" or "clear"...now available on some cars sunroof sections. It's only a matter of time before it comes out for the side/rear windows.

For States were the tinting is not legal, do the police want clear front drivers/passenger windows only during traffic stops? If the window was tinted during vehicle operation, but could be changed to clear at a flip of a button, would that make them legal?

I don't like heavily tinted windows for night use...makes backing up harder (especially with my old eyes)....But I love having them tinted for daytime use, etc.

Anybody have the actual legal argument as to why and when the police want clear windows? If it is only during traffic stops, then the switchable tinting might be the ticket (or no ticket ).

Cheers,
George

 

[Bandit3]

So aftermarket window tint is dangerous for cops? Why is it legal then for conversion vans with curtains, pickup trucks with caps, box trucks, church vans, delivery vans with no rear window? BS to that theory--just another tax on us.

PS-nope, I never got a ticket for it.

 

[vancouver-gts]

Bandit3 , you can tint the rear window black if you like ,because delivery vanspanel trucks don't have to have a rear window .The regulation only applies to the windshield , driver and passenger side windows.I have tint on my side windows that the cops can see through during the day but doubt it during the night.So ,if I get pulled over the window is rolled down before he reaches my car .

In this picture , even in daylight it's hard to see in with a dark background .

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

Look at the white van to the right of my car , It has factory tint called privacy glass

 

[Urhuckleberry]

In Florida you can not drive without tinted windows so here it is the norm. It is a shame but most cops are just rejects who will never earn a good living. I guess that somehow makes up for their shortcomings in their little minds. After all did you ever see an intelligent person say I want to be a cop instead of a doctor or lawyer.



The safety part is such bull****.

I really wanted to respond to this statement, but my "Little mind" kept me from saying what I really wanted to say...pure ignorance.


__________________
'02 RT/10 Yellow
Pretty much stock...

 

[AFL in NJ]

If that cop stopped me for the tint on my windows now that I'm here in California and actually gave me a ticket, I'd ask him/her what their parents thought of them being a glorified hall monitor? That being said, I learned long ago that I pull over nice and quick, power off the car, put the hazards on and ensure the windows are all rolled down, and my hands are out the window. I was told this shows respect to the officer approaching your car as he/she no longer has to guess as they approach you what your intentions are. Your car is powered off, so you're not going to flee. Your hands have license, registration and insurance in them and are out the window, so you're not holding a weapon and your tint is now within the door, so if it was a reason to pull you over, its no longer an issue to their safety. It seems to work for me most times.....again, most times.

Regards,
Aaron

 

[audiowhiz]

I have never been pulled for dark tint. Lucky so far I guess.

I haven't tinted the viper yet but I am leaning towards going legal on this one. Too much of an attention getter, even to cops.

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

BTW - its not called a quota, its called a performace standard or something like that. the standard motivates lazy cops into actually doing something occasionally.

I'd rather they all stay lazy.