Window Tint... got busted

Well, by that standard, NOT having tinted side windows is what would make your car stand out in San Diego.

I've had a very painful ATX removed from my nose and several very painful leasions removed from my left arm, so all my cars have 35% on the front windows. Should I ever get stopped I'll gladly take the tint off to satisfy LEO, soon as I'm clear, car goes in and gets retinted.

 

Modern cars including the Prius are factory tinted in the glass with 89-100% UV cut rate. That's why dash fading is now a thing of the past and there's no need to get a dash cover or stink up your interior with 303 Aerospace UV Protectant. Most people tint their Prius further for the look or additional solar heat reduction especially with ceramic film above and beyond what factory glass has to offer (up to 55%).

If you're hypersensitive to the small amount of UV light that the factory glass still lets through, you can tint with a transparent film like Air Blue 80, Crystalline 90 or equivalent for additional UV cut properties. There's no need to go 35% dark just for UV and don't confuse UV with the heat that you feel on your arm through the factory glass.

 

My Prius"v" came with Southeast Toyota's distribution network applied "compliant" film that is legal in all 50 states.

Basically, I negotiated with my dealer and got ALL of these "add on's" for almost FREE.

 

If it's the Southeast Toyota 32% Digifilm, it's not compliant on the front side windows in states like California (and also rear side windows in New York). 75% in factory glass x 32% is an aggregate of 24%, lower than the legal limit of 70%.

 

I got a $180.00 tint ticket. I paid the ticket, but did not take the tint off. I have not received another ticket since. I got caught up in a speed trap and was initially pulled over due to my speed. Then, the officer noticed that I had all of my windows down and asked why. He said that he noticed my windows were dark. He proceeded to get the tint meter, and metered my windows at 12%. I said fine.

Instead of slamming me with the speeding ticket, he gave me the latter, the tint ticket - good guy cop in my opinion.

Still have the tint and may go darker anyway.

 

You actually made out, since the tint ticket isn't a moving violation and your insurance rates won't go up and your driving record stays clean.

12-percent?
Yeah.
You're going to get stopped again....if only because 12-percent is obviously DARK.
Alabama is 32/32 for sedans.
If you're really down with the whole tint thing, some states (like AL) allow for a medical exemption, so you can probably get some skin MD to falsify some documentation and get you hall pass.

Unfortunately this will still make you a Cop magnet since they have to pull you over to read the permit, and I wouldn't want to sully my clean health records with an obviously Bravo-Sierra chit, but like I said......if you're really down for the limo tint thing, you do have that option open.


Good Luck!
(You're probably going to need it!)

 

^ ditto. A fellow member with front limo tint admitted that he nearly ran over someone at night. I heard life isn't too good with Bubba and his bad breath.

 

Well, this is concerning. We are planning on taking our factory (or dealer or whoever) tinted Prius on a cross country run next year, going up and across the top, down the west coast, and back across the middle back to the bottom. That's lots and lots and lots of states. Fingers crossed, I guess.

 

My comment concerning legal tint in the state of AL was circumvented by an Auburn student friend of mine by keeping his car tagged in his home state of GA. He told me that saved him a time or two when he got stopped for other minor infractions but the officers always commented on his limo dark tint. This was years ago. There were no tint meters, they just stuck your drivers license behind the tint and if the background couldn't be seen it was illegal.

 

I wouldn't be too worried. They generally give out of staters a pass when they see your license plate unless the cop is a real jerk and you've committed some other serious offense like speeding.

 

I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for your insight and input! I really haven't had any trouble with it since. It happened around 2 years ago. I've driven a lot in different areas as well. Maybe the Prius isn't targeted as much regardless of whether it has tint or not.

Thanks for comment!