Call for Action - Chicago Window Tint Ticket

it's one thing for you to drive to another state and be in viotation of their laws and be held for that. but it's another for a city to over-ride a state law. it's not supposed to work that way. chicago has just had their nice person handed to them over trying to impose gun laws that violate the federal constitution. They seem to think they can do what ever they want. Chicago government has become the Al Capone.

 

Actually that is incorrect. A City or County can create laws that are more strict than State or Federal laws (within limits of the constitution) but they cannot be more lax than the overriding laws. So if the state says you can drink no more than 2 milkshakes per day a City can create a law that says you can drink no more than 1 milkshake per day. That is entirely legal.

 

Correct. With the exception of special quartz-silica glasses, almost all glass absorbs UV light in the higher energy range below 280nm. I suspect that the factory tint is used to block UV light between 280 and 390nm. We can't see in this range so blocking this light is irrelevant to seeing where we are going, etc.

What IS a problem is blocking visible light in the 390nm to 750nm range, since it affects our ability to see and be seen (obviously).

Much of the heat comes from infared (IR) light in the >750nm range. Ceramic tints try to reflect this light. Which is better than blocking it, because the energy is rejected rather than heating up the tint sheet and hence the inside of the car.

Ideally it would be great to have a tint that rejects IR without affecting visible light. Then one could coat the windshield, which is certainly a huge heat source in the Prius on a sunny day. I haven't been able to find an auto tint that does that.

 

Looks like lots of experts here. Ok as a former ticket writer the lawful limit in illinois is 35% tint whatever that means??? The shop that did mine shows a sample of what 35% looks like and recomends that on all windows. They have tinted over 1000 cars since the tint law started in illinois without any problem. You can see into the vehicle, that light tint blocks 99% uva and uvb very important for lupus and skin cancer tatients to name only 2 of a handfull of deseases where it is important to block these harmful rays. The 35% is the total that is blocked by original window tint and film combined and has been tested by a hand held device. Anything is possible in Chicago and in any court room. The judge decides what goes. I have known police officers who always would write tickets for things not found in the vehicle code but if you pay the ticket no one checks to verify the law.

 

Yeah, I did a lot of UV/VIS spectroscopy as a scientist. And screwed up sometimes when we were trying to measure at 260nm and used glass cells by mistake (rather than quartz silica). You remember those things.

"35%" means that it passes 35% of the VISIBLE light that reaches it. So it absorbs 65%. Of course if the glass it is applied to ALREADY is tinted, the effects are multiplicative.

This rating has nothing to do with UV or IR light absorption.

 

625 ILCS 5/12-503 section (2) non reflective tint allowing 35% light transmittance metered ( by use of a hand held meter) is lawful. The majority of judges will only find a guilty verdict if the officer in a trial uses a light transmittance meter and less than 35% is found. The device looks like a hand held radar gun and several hundred dollars . The judges i dealt with also wanted written on the ticket the % of light registerd on the meter or ng Not guilty. But as my other post says anything possible in Chicago or in Gods i mean the judges court room.

 

I smell TICKET QUOTA er woops i mean POLICE PERFORMANCE STANDARDS a rose by any other name.Ours was 10 tickets and 15 stops a month for non traffic patrol units others in Illinois use a points system each division had different point totals depending on your primary duty, of course traffic units had to get the most. TMI TMI well that just let the cat of of the bag. Did everyone think we write all those tickets because we wanted to??? Maybe you would like to by a bridge i own ok i can sell you this one The Golden Gate Bridge. If the public only knew yikes.

 

1 Management gets the behavior that it rewards

2 Rewards are based on what is measured.

3 What is measured is that which is easy to measure.

It doesn't get much easier than counting traffic tickets.

Works the same in much of industry, just with different criteria.

 

Hope he told the judge to ef himself!

 

Those cops in Chicago are a-holes! What if you are from out of state? What do the pigs do then?

 

So Ohio cars get tickets in Pensylvania for no safety inspection Bull efing Sh!t.!!!!!!!!

 

I am utterly amazed that anyone would think that if someone drives their car to another jurisdiction they could be fined for that jurisdictions laws pertaining to vehicle code? People are just plain ignorant! Again, Ohio has no vehicle inspection! Neighboring Pennsylavania does. Are you saying Ohio drivers can be fined by Pennsylvania police for not having an inspection sticker! Insane! Doesn't happen! Can't happen! Unlawful!

 

So if you drive to another state you don't have to follow the speed limit laws?

 

Chicago isn't just a regular city, it is a Home Rule city. The Illinois Legislature voluntarily gave them more far power than smaller cities.

Not relevant, because you are mixing jurisdictions. Chicago's gun ban violated only the federal Constitution, not any Illinois law. Chicago's tint law does not violate any federal law, because the feds don't regulate that stuff.

That is one of the perks of Home Rule, even in the absence of Chicago-style corruption.

 

Before NAFTA, Mexican-registered commercial trucks weren't allowed to drive in the U.S. due to vehicle code deficiencies. Even after NAFTA, they are still restricted. Do you also disagree with this?

About the time this thread started, authorities here had a surprise inspection of Canadian-registered commercial shuttle buses ferrying passengers between SeaTac Airport and British Columbia. Many were fined, and some were taken out of service on the spot, due to violations of our vehicle safety codes. The news I heard made no reference to any violations of their home vehicle codes. Was this action also wrong?

I am licensed to carry a concealed loaded handgun in public in my state. If I get caught carrying it while visiting Chicago, or even Illinois, I'll get thrown into the slammer. Outside a certain federal constitutional amendment, how is this meaningfully different than OP's issue.

 

Wow what did we start here looks alot like what is going on in D.C. if you ask me. Well we still can go to court and challange a ticket/arrest and voice our knowledge and opinions in many places including prius chat. Just try that in Peking, Moscow and several other places in the mideast.

 

I understand what you are saying, but the system is wrong. There's just no way it should be right for an Illinois resident to follow the code where he lives and then get penalized for it anywhere in Illinois. They're basically making people choose to not go to Chicago, because window tint is more of a permanent fixture in the car. There needs to be some sort of separation of powers at this level.

This is the kind of crap you run into with oversized big government who just wants to makes laws about everything. I think every road law that differs from state law should be posted when you enter a city that goes above and beyond the state law.

 

Yes it is the Chicago way if you want to play you pay. Many people and tourists are doing just that, staying away.Parking $$$ outragous and everything is taxed and taxed. Crime has been a real problem espicially the downtown areas and yes the tourist areas. With this hot weather of late shootings are big issue in da city.

 

Everybody seems to be forgetting that the OP might actually be using illegal tints. If you put a 35% film on the Prius, that's illegal in all of Illinois as the factory glass is already tinted ~75% putting it an aggregate of below 35%. I bet nobody would bother you if you actually have 50% tint even in Chicago.

 

Maybe Chicago has a larger problem with crimes and feels their officers would be safer if they could see into vehicles easier. Why is it wrong then for them to create a more strict law that increases safety of their officers based on statistics in that particular area? Are you assuming that all areas are equal and should have the exact same laws?

Maybe you should go on a few ride-alongs in the city and see first hand what it feels like to walk up to a suspicious vehicle with dark tinted windows at night. It may change your opinion. It did for me both in city situations and especially in rural/remote areas with out Dept. of Fish & Game.