California tint law sucks! bye bye tints >_<

Dood. Sell your car. Don't buy another. Run for your life! Just about every modern car has tint in the glass. I wonder why they do that? Are the car makers out to kill us? In most passenger cars, the tint isn't dark enough, so some of us add more. Many (most?) SUVs and minivans come with quite dark tint in the passenger/cargo area. So I wonder... at exactly what tint level does this activity become inane and dangerous? Is it dangerous at any level darker than what you have in your car?

Good lord. There are some vehicles that have no windows behind the driver at all! HELP!

(I tried sitting on my hands, F8L, really I did.)

 

This is something I've dreamed about, actually. Imagine how great it would be to have this happen automatically... but with manual override? You could just dial in the proper amount of tint for the given situation. And when the car is shut off? BAM. Black out the whole thing.

We can dream for now... maybe it'll become affordable. Who'd of thought that drive-by-wire would ever be as affordable as it is now?

 

It's ok man. I like your posts. They are always accurate and make me laugh.

As for me I do the rear window in 5% so people can't see my subwoofer box.... lol

 

I used to want tints, but then realized theyre unnecessary and ruin the clean look. It's like giving your car plastic surgery. It's unnatural and a cop will just call you out on it.

 

Only on the front windows..

 

This would be like some of the expensive bathroom doors, where they are clear until you lock the door. It's kind of freaky. It's impressive what you can do with LCDs when you have lots of money.

Tom

 

Calm down. It becomes a hazardous practice when other drivers cannot see beyond your overly-tinted front windows. Plus, you cannot see very clearly outside them in dim light. Others may want to test this by donning a pair of sunglasses at night. Not while driving, of course. Well, unless you're darelldud.

So consider that I ride my bicycle about 5k miles per year and routinely encounter drivers with tinted front windows - including their windshield! I cannot make eye contact with them, when necessary, so it endangers me and my cycling buddies. Multiply that encounter many times over to get an idea of why I find tinting dangerous.

So, darreldud, when one can't easily see the driver (and you can only guess that they sometimes can't see you), the tint is too dark. But, feel free to go ahead doing what looks cool to you, and satisfying that desire to look cool. Sounds like you're hanging onto this notion for dear life.

 

I can seldom make eye contact with other drivers. Usually they are too busy texting, talking on the phone, or putting on makeup.

Tom

 

After six cop killings here in the past three months -- five of them outright planned assassinations -- this is going to be a touchy subject for quite some time.

It doesn't matter that these were not from traffic stops, nor that the national rate last year was the lowest in decades, nor that all the perps here (but not the one in Alaska) are dead or in custody. Local officers are very nervous.

 

+1

I think your and Leslie's way of thinking makes more sense.

It seems odd to me that "100% tint" would really mean "100% clear".

Another reason for my confusion was that when getting tinted eyeglasses, the higher the % tint, the darker the len is.

 

Folks ... let the above be a lesson. If you go to court, DON'T cite a web link. It better look something like this:
194 Cal.App.2d 620
or
603 P.2d 425

But please, DON'T cite a web link

Videos - Free video downloads and streaming video - CNET TV

If you got the bucks ... it's already here. Enjoy!
.

 

I think the tint ticket is easy for the cop to write. Most likely the cop pulled the driver for another reason all together, loud music, peeling rubber, some other minor infraction. But making you take off the tint is maybe all they can really MAKE you do.

As with the others, be aware of what you do while driving, be aware of your surroundings and get those windows down before the cop gets to your door so he knows there are no surprises waiting for him and you have nothing to hide.

I'm 20/50 and have had no problems yet. The solar roof is open most days.....not today though, rain, rain and more rain!

 

Most all tickets are easy to write. It simply just happens. I got tagged a few weeks back, and our '04 got tinted (front & back windows) after 5 months of ownership (may 05) ... so what is that, close to 5 years?

It happened around 7am. Out in the middle of nowhere ... central valley CA heading for san fransisco. Maybe every 8 miles or so, an overpass, otherwise nothing but produce around. The CHP were austensibly looking for speeders. A ford SUV BLEW by me doing at least 85, opposed to my 70mph/speed limit. CHP hangs a U, gets up to speed, and pulls little ol' 6'-5" ME over! He says, "You can't have tint on the front windows".

I had to say something. "I thought you were going to pull over the SUV doing at least 85". You'll LOVE his response. He says, "... meh, I like to mix it up now & then". I thought to myself that maybe the local Ford Truck sales are down in hickvlle ... and this evens the score. I duno.

What I DO know is THIS. It can be a PAIN to un-mod your windows. After seeing horrible attempts at removing tint, I watched a youtube vid. It said to use one of these handheld steamers:



MAN! It worked great. Both windows done in way less than 20 minutes. Great for steaming coffee out of the floor mats too. Comes from Bed Bath & Beyond. They'll order 'em at Home Depot & Lowes, too. And once spring rolls around, the tint goes back on the front windows. Maybe a little ligher shade this time.


.

 

No worries Hill, same thing happened to me except A LINE of 4 cars passed me going 10mph over the speed limit with a CHP following them and he pulls off from behind them and gets behind me (doing the speed limit) and lights me up......

 

ya gotta laugh ... it's just a fix it ticket. The cop who signed it off for me said, "WOW ... I've NEVER seen one of these".

 

we are allowed to tint 35% all around in MA. It does help a lot compared to untinted. I have a couple of CRVs with privacy EOM glass which is a heck of a lot darker than the 35% allowed by the law. We have annual inspections and if the tint is too dark, your rejected.,

 

Man, you use WAY nicer bathrooms than I do. I'm not surprised.

Ouch. That hurt.

 

Try wearing spandex more often.

 

Oh no, let's not go there again. Pat will be all over this.
(shhhh)

 

Pat's not allowed anywhere near spandex, and he knows it. :nono:

Sorry, my friend, you know I mean well. :hug:



In a lame attempt to bring this back on topic, I observed an officer not too long ago enforcing the local tint law. I'm not sure if he issued a ticket, but he ripped the offending tint off the driver's side window, right then and there.