window tint laws

6779 Views 27 Replies 12 Participants Last post by C_elliott83, Aug 9, 2013

SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · Jun 7, 2011

havent seen this anywhere maby could become a sticky...
thought it could be used as a helpful tip so here ya go might keep you from getting a ticket
http://www.tintcenter.com/laws/

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

PDR1878

· #2 · Jun 7, 2011

Good to know. However All tint shops by law are required to notify you of the current tint laws. However, they are allowed to go lower than the legal limit as long as they notify you.

I think this would be a good thread. I like forums because of real life information. Sometimes sites take awhile or dont even update their information.

I found out the lowest for two front windows in TX is now 25% up from 20%

SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 7, 2011

wow lol i dont go by this and yes i got a ticket lol... i live in IN and have a KY license and have 5% on my rear windows and have 5% sun shade that comes down like 12" and comes up like 6" from the bottom. and i have 20% on my driver and pass front doors lol ticket was like $180

70Cuda383

· #4 · Jun 7, 2011

best thing to do is search out your state's laws from the state's own website. not trust some 3rd party vendor and what they say...your state's website will have the newest and most up to date laws, a vendor might not get the most up to date information.

in Ohio, it's 70% on the front windshield, 50% on the front sides, and no limit on rear sides or back glass.

the ORC simply states something like "the director of public safety will adopt regulations so that tint limits are such that a reasonable person can see through it"

on this website though the actual limits are specified out:

http://bmv.ohio.gov/index.stm

you have to go to general information, click digest of motor vehicle laws, and open up the PDF. chapter 5 is what you want.

interesting note, I finally found the reference I was looking for that limits light colors. it only says that my forward facing lights must be white or amber, and that I must have red brake lights, and a white light on the license plate. any other color light on the sides or rear are ok. (I have blue LEDs to give a blue glow around my rear license plate, since the truck is Intense Blue but also have a white light on it to be legal.)

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PDR1878

· #5 · Jun 7, 2011

SPC. Brinkmeyer said:
wow lol i dont go by this and yes i got a ticket lol... i live in IN and have a KY license and have 5% on my rear windows and have 5% sun shade that comes down like 12" and comes up like 6" from the bottom. and i have 20% on my driver and pass front doors lol ticket was like $180

I moved to TX from Colorado for work. My other truck sports Colorado tags. Well on the highways going up north, cops pull over EVERYONE for the smallest details. I had a Sheriff in a Tahoe pace me at 68mph down a 65mph highway looking at my truck. They pulled me over, said reason was for a burnt out license plate light :jester:

Showed them my ID and once they found out I working for the border patrol they went from lets search this guys truck to sorry, what kind of gun is that, okay have a nice day!

I got pulled over 4 times in 24hrs. I asked two of the officers laws regarding out of state vehicles. Both Troopers. Both informed me that because the vehicle is an out-of-state they can not enforce laws for tint/hids/height/exhaust tone/ect.. Only moving violations and insurance.

I have 15% on my front windows (on that truck) and never once got an issue :waiting:

So I'm wondering why you got a ticket!! Though each state is different.... Unless your license is only out of state but your vehicle is registered under IL. :huh:

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SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 7, 2011

you can see me when its daylight out... i got pulled over and he gave me a ticket because he used the tint guage on the windows and they were below legal limits

SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 7, 2011

no its registerd in KY i have a KY license and i was wearing my Army uniform and was on the way back home from drill in KY and got pulled over by a Georgetown cop so everything matched up at that time

PDR1878

· #8 · Jun 7, 2011

Hmmm that's jacked up. I hate asshole cops like that.

If possible I would have gone to court and spoke to a judge. Ask him what he thinks, then tell him that hopefully he'll put in a word to get this issue fixed.

I understand they need money, however if people knew they would get a ticket with tinted windows (when legal where they live) then who would visit that state?? See what I mean?

Unless in your home state, your windows are not legal to begin with, and the two states have an agreement to enforce eachothers laws (some do) then you're SOL lol

SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 7, 2011

thats what i was saying lol everything happend in ky where everything is registered right now about 6months ago... i have lived in IN for about a year now lol so technicly im illegal as hell lol

synpsycho

· #10 · Jun 7, 2011

I bought my contour with 20% all the way around...suppose to be no more then 25% in wi at the time...I got pulled over a lot for it and I told them all I bought the car like that...they kept giving me warnings and let me go...I know in tx its 25% so once I get the money I'm gonna get my fronts tinted

DODGEM

· #11 · Jun 7, 2011

Research your state's medical exemptions. All three of my vehicles are 5% Limo Tint all the way around (LEGALLY) with the Med. Exemption in Florida. Like $7.80 per vehicle for as long as the vehicle is registered to you! You have to apply for each vehicle by VIN#. And the person listed on the exemption NEED NOT be present (unlike handicapped parking permits). Covers anybody at anytime, at least until you sell the vehicle. I've had mine this way for over 15 years. Yes I've been stopped, but with the exemption slip, there's no ticket----You're LEGAL!!

PDR1878

· #12 · Jun 7, 2011

That's as bad as saying your dog is a service dog (if you're dog acts like shit in public) making the real service dogs look bad/harrassed because of your dog.

sunsal01

· #13 · Jun 7, 2011

window tint

If I'm not mistaken in Texas you need to have 35% on your front doors.that is what i was told by a highway patrol officer about a year ago.

last_in

· #14 · Jun 7, 2011

Do any of you know an Optometrist personally or go to the eye doctor ever? Have him write you a prescription for window tint. Keep it in your glove box until you get pulled over and asked about the darkness of your windows.

Having sensitive eyes might help you with your case of needing the prescription for tinted windows.

Shackleford

· #15 · Jun 7, 2011

If you get pulled over you might get away with illegally dark tint if you roll your window down. I think the main reason for those laws is so that cops don't have to worry about drivers using weapons against them when they pull people over for other reasons. Of course, if taxing you for your dark tint is the reason they pulled you over then this won't help.

Shackleford

· #16 · Jun 7, 2011

DODGEM said:
Research your state's medical exemptions. All three of my vehicles are 5% Limo Tint all the way around (LEGALLY) with the Med. Exemption in Florida. Like $7.80 per vehicle for as long as the vehicle is registered to you! You have to apply for each vehicle by VIN#. And the person listed on the exemption NEED NOT be present (unlike handicapped parking permits). Covers anybody at anytime, at least until you sell the vehicle. I've had mine this way for over 15 years. Yes I've been stopped, but with the exemption slip, there's no ticket----You're LEGAL!!

By "all the way around" I assume you mean that literally? Windshield too? I've heard of that being done. 5% tint looks great on the outside, but it makes your window about as transparent as a block wall!

An eye doctor once told me I have pupils the size of a mac truck so I'm pretty sensitive to light and could probably get a legitimate medical tint exemption, but there's no way I could feel safe driving at night with a dark windshield. I can understand tinting the side and rear windows dark, but the windshield? At some point there needs to be an expectation on the part of the driver to wear sunglasses if they can't tolerate the sun. Out of curiosity I've popped on my sunglasses at night while driving and it just didn't seem safe for anything other than simplistic interstate-style driving.

One time I was driving down a 45mph road at night when a guy on a bicycle suddenly appeared off to the side about 20ft ahead of me. He was a black guy on a black bike wearing black clothes so I literally did not see him until i was a car length behind him. I wouldn't have hit him anyway, but if someone was dumb enough to do what he did then someone else could be dumb enough to go one step further and need me to avoid them. If I had tinted a windshield that guy would be dead!

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SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jun 8, 2011

Shackleford said:
If you get pulled over you might get away with illegally dark tint if you roll your window down. I think the main reason for those laws is so that cops don't have to worry about drivers using weapons against them when they pull people over for other reasons. Of course, if taxing you for your dark tint is the reason they pulled you over then this won't help.

yea thats one of the reasons...
when i got pulled over i already had both driver side windows down for him out of habbit so he can see theres noone else with me...
when he pulled me over and got to me he said he couldnt observe me while i was driving...
guess i coulda been smokin it up in there for all he knew o well bunch of bs to me lol

70Cuda383

· #18 · Jun 8, 2011

window tint laws are money grab laws anyway.

otherwise, they would read "tint not to exceed that which allows LEOs from looking in, or, the driver must roll down the windows when stopped for a traffic violation"

so if you wanted to put 5% tint on your glass, it should be ok, as long as you roll down the window when you get stopped so that the officer can see in. otherwise, you get a ticket.

SPC. Brinkmeyer

Discussion Starter · #19 · Jun 8, 2011

and thats what i did but thats the reason that he pulled me over... because he couldnt see me driving down the road then he made me roll em half way up so he could use his tint guage on them and the red below legal limit and gave me a ticket

PDR1878

· #20 · Jun 8, 2011

Check their patrol cars too. Sometimes they have limo tint on their undercover patrol cars.

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