California tint law sucks! bye bye tints >_<

I have not been stopped for a while but in the past, if my window is up I lower it prior to the officer approaching the car and keep my hands on the window sill or on the steering wheel, until they walk up and ask for my paperwork. By lowering the window and keeping your hands in sight you can put the officer at ease any keep tensions from escalating.

 

The tint law is the same flawed logic as the "ban guns" crowd. iF someone really wants to be a bad guy and harm a peace officer, banning window tint isn't going to stop them anymore than banning guns will stop the bad guys from shooting people.

The ironic part is that cops break the law just like us regular folks but they get to pick and choose when to be crystal clear on petty BS like tint laws. I've known 2 CHP and a city cop over the years, if you had any idea how many of them drink and drive (then get a courtesy
ride home) then this tint thing would really tick you off.

 

Heh...I've had limo all around for nearly a year now. Love it.

 

Um why would you put illegal tint on your car in the first place?

Google 'state tint laws' and choose your state. That is what is legal.

You don't SOUND like you wanted to meet Officer Friendly, so why invite him over?

 

NJ doesn't allow the windshield or front side windows to have a deep tint. This makes it easy to spot the unmarked trooper cars 'cause they've been tinting their windows now.

 

Ha, was looking at this thread to get ideas about tinting and how much and cost and instead got a solid half hour of entertainment. First Prius related discussion I've ever seen someone call California a communist country and someone else tell another person to get out of America. Bizarrely hilarious. Thanks y'all.

 

I agree. This post was hilarious. I call CA a communist country in fun.

 

window was down and the office asked me to roll it up and then i got the ticket should i fight the ticket and im not sure wat my tent is at and I'm in cali

 

wat do u do if the window was already rolled down???

 

^ That's a heckuva interesting first post there sic one.

You're driving a car that doesn't exist....according to the stats you made up. I'm not sure what you're up to, but my feces detector tells me that you're indicating "positive".

Oh.....and in the event that you really do own a tinted car window, the tint is either legal or not. The law doesn't say anything about the window being up or down.

Happy New Year.

 

My wife just got pulled over today for the window tint. She rolled all the windows down before the bike CHP approached. No luck. We have a friend who is a l.e. so he'll sign off on the fix it ticket. For the record, California doesn't give waivers for medical conditions, so a light sensitivity script wouldn't legally work.

 

thats what you get when you let a bunch of safety-nazi pansies run your state. stupid laws. however, after a certain point its pretty obvious too dark tint is dangerous cause you can't see out the car. i like to tint my windows 1 shade darker than legal. unless the cop is a real @$$#0!e, he won't check that close.

 

I got my first CA V.C. 26708. (a) (2) today. I was driving safely and I was genuinely surprised I was getting pulled over. It IS a Prius after all.
Window tint? Okay sure, but there are many cars around here with totally opaque tint. I must have cut this guy off on the freeway or something and he has just waiting for me to cruise through his beat while he was on the job.

 

Or maybe the PD responded to an incident very recently where excessive tint was a factor, and chose to make it a special emphasis item today.

I just don't get how people who intentionally violate safety regulations can be genuinely surprised about occasionally getting caught and cited for it. There must be something different about the regional culture.

 

I sympathize with the officer's point of view with regard to being able to see inside the car during a traffic stop. The resulting regulation is intrusive and very restrictive. Okay, I can live with that.

But the enforcement is very inconsistent. Let's either eliminate the law or enforce it uniformly.

 

tint laws are not "safety regulations" except in Orwellian double speak. I can understand how limo tint should be illegal because you can't see at night. that is a safety issue. but picking an arbitrary tint shade and forcing folks to remove tint that's a little darker has nothing to do with safety. it gets unhealthy hot in cars that must be parked outside, and some folks do have light sensitivity problems. there is nothing unsafe in any way about having 30% tint on your front windows, if the cop is a coward, he should use his mic to ask that all windows be lowered before he approaches the car. or call for backup. and, like a criminal is gonna be driving a prius???

 

Criminals drive all makes of cars. Coward? That is a low remark against people who put their lives on the line each day to protect you. Think before making such remarks.

 

I just looked up our state's tint laws. What's a decent quality tint to get for the rear's?

No metallic or mirrored allowed at all. No tint allowed on passenger or driver's window.

WindshieldNon-reflective tint is allowed along the top of the windshield above the manufacturer's AS-1 line.
Front Side WindowsNo tint can be applied legally to this window.
Back Side WindowsAny darkness can be used.
Rear WindowAny darkness can be used.

 

Here is a link to the text of the actual regulation.

V C Section 26708 Material Obstructing or Reducing Driver x2019 s View


Evidently there is confusion because of the area around V.C. 26708 (a) (14)(C)(c)(4)(d)(1) and V.C. 26708 (a) (14)(C)(c)(4)(d)(2). Apparently there are some interpretations of this law which allow for 70% to 88% visible light transmittance.

I intend to find an "authorized inspection station" which is mentioned on my citation to see how they will interpret the law. The friendly officer I met today is the first I've heard anyone saying that no tint is allowed at all on side windows.

 

Tint shops know the laws in California, and they will tint the front windows, but also will tell you its against the law. Go with a light tint on the front and med on the back and you should be okay.