Pulled over for tinted windows

Personally, if it was something I had been hassled about twice already, I wouldn't bother doing it again.

 

In your pictures the tint appears to be excessively dark. The problem has to do with other drivers (and the police) unable to make eye contact with you. Most everything should be approached in moderation. Try tinting your front door windows with a lighter shade and you probably won 't be subject to harassment from the "Tint Squad". If you ask me, they could better serve the public by ticketing more people who don't understand what a 4 way stop is all about or think it's ok to bust through a Red, left turn light.

 

Every thread about tinting, we try to explain that you need to comply with the law in the areas you drive.

California 2013 Tint Laws

If you stay within the law, you should meet and greet law officers much less often.

 

you are not the first one to report being ticketed for this.

 

Here in Texas, if the officer can not see you and what you are doing; because of your very dark tent; the officer comes up to the side of your car and orders you out of the vehicle,with your hands up. And the officer has his or her weapon out pointed at the vehicle and/or at you !! Back-up may have been called, with your plate number recorded !!

It is for the officer's own protection.

 

I was in exactly this situation last year and posted an angry thread over it, even naming the cop who ticketed me. I'm not saying you do that but I did get the fronts re-tinted with the lightest tint possible at my dealer's expense since I wasn't informed about the tint laws prior to their doing it the first time. It made me a lesser target and I've not been ticketed since but I still fume at all the yahoos who drive around with full front tints and PBA shields on their windows (something I also added to help). It goads me no end to hear from neighbors who get Go (safety) Cards to get out of tickets since they have friends on the force. Dirty pool. Well, just do what I did - re-tint your front windows to the lightest shade available and you'll probably be fine. Sorry for the rant but I was pissed then!

 

And bicyclists and pedestrians too.

 

Man, I wish I could order certain drivers out of their vehicle at gunpoint when I'm on my bike...

 

The only people who can have tint that dark and drive around with no seat belts while surfing the internet on the laptop while simultaneously talking on a cell are the police.

 

The lightest tint is all you can really get away with in CA and still sometimes that gets tickets too.

 

I drive with dealer plates no front plates and tinted windows. If a cop feels like being a jerk. And waste his time giving me a ticket. That's on him. I will go to court and waste his time or delay paying as long as I can and see how he and the county likes it. If ii cop wants to give tickets he will find a way... It really doesn't matter what your doing .


iPhone ?

 

If your tint is legal for the state your car is registered in, they shouldn't hassle you at all. If they don't know better, they need to be trained. If the tinting person doesn't know the local laws and puts too dark a tint on, that can be their bad they have to fix at their cost. Lots of places will do what you ask, but they should always tell you if a tint you want is not "street legal" so you know before paying for the work.

 

The warning may not be verbal. If you signed any forms, a warning or disclaimer is almost certainly included in the fine print.

 

True, but if you are asking for something NOT street legal, it doesn't profit them to NOT tell you that before it's applied. All that form does is protect them from litigation, not a bad reference to potential customers because they didn't properly advise you before the work was done.

More so, I'm sure some states just prohibit using illegal tint levels on automobiles without certain statutory exceptions.

 

Abide by you state laws or pay the consequences. Another tint discussion on here said that if you travel to other states you have to abide by their tint laws also. Darkness of tint doesn't indicate performance. I didn't want to black out my car I did Llumar Air Blue 80 all around including the full windshield. I see dark tint as a safety problem, for the driver (less visibility), other drivers (they can't see your face) and law enforcement (can't see you to establish their safety [don't need to shoot you]).

 

I believe those wanting darker than legal tints make up a large portion of their profits. 'Bad references' of that particular sort won't hurt them a bit.

 

15% is 50-state illegal.
From the pictures?
It looked waaaaaaaay to dark to be legal, especially on a silver car.
Result: Profit for the state and an easy ticket for LEO. Aslo......since scofflaws tend break more than one law, LEO also got a peek inside your car to see if you were pulling on a beer or indulging in recreational pharmaceuticals while you were driving.
Win-Win.
Cops don't really have a ticket quota per se, and they universally HATE to do traffic HOWEVER (comma!) your car was an easy mark for a hassle-free pull-over, and let's face it.....Cops hate tint.
If you had to sweat your A$$ off for 8 hours a shift wearing underwear make by a company that has "ballistic" in its name?
You would hate tint too.

Chippies prefer to think of it as law enforcement rather than "hassling."
They're funny like that.

Absolutely!
California needs the money.

Note: That was sarcasm.
You've already figured it out. I'm not sure what the law is in Caly, but they have about 12,345 tint shops.
One of these guys will know how much tint that you can have and still be legal.

Enjoy the car, the tint AND the MPG.

Good Luck!

 

I would try using 50% for fronts, eye contact really plays big role while driving, at stop sign or traffic light, let other drivers to see you and get ready for your action