Landseer

Are the windows borderline?

Was he wearing sunglasses?

Anyway to move completely out of that crazy state?

Cosmo Kramer

Here in Ontario Canada, most tint shops won't go over 35% on the front side windows. I had 20% on the side windows of a Ford Ranger I had and at night it was tough to see unlit objects from the side (aka pedestrians crossing the street). There is also the issue of an officer being able to see if a person is going for a weapon in the car when he walks up.

As far as your ticket goes, saying it is not correctable is bogus, I would definitely fight that one!

Mongo

Windows are 15% so they are definitely dark at dusk. I wasn't wearing sunglasses. And yes, I'm already reconsidering the latter.

scottzj

Well I think a car looks great with blacked out windows. 5% is very clean look but its pretty darn dark at night........you have to watch cutting corners and such, as they curbs creep up on ya. haha But I do not agree with those that put tint on the front windshield.
My tacoma is used part time undercover so its seriously blacked out.

Mongo

Yikes. My windows aren't even that blacked out. I have a tan interior and when there is sun out, you can see it through the tint. You can definitely see behind you as you back up too at night in my car.

I keep receiving conflicting stories about if this can be signed off or not. I'm going to have the tint removed if it can be signed off.

Bill Ball

How embarrassing.

dr bob

Not correctable means that you can't get out of the guilt just by removing the tint. Got the same crap from CHP when I got a no-front-plate violation. So you are lucky in that you don't need to correct it and go find a nice officer to sign off the compliance. Not a safety issue big enough to require that you actually fix it I guess. You just don't want to continue to get pulled over and fined for the same thing.

If you want to raise a stink about it, explain to the judge that you are using the same tint used on the detective cars in your neighborhood. Get a few pictures to demonstrate your point. Picures are pretty irrefutable. It will be good for a laugh and might get a reduced fine.

For those with darker factory windows, the Cali law is directed at add-on tints. No film tints or spray-ons. Many moons ago I got pulled over in my beater $100 Toyota jobsite truck. Officer noted the tinted windows, and also wanted to add no seat belt use. We bantered on this a bit, saying that I had them on, but took them off when I got out of the truck. He continued, until I reminded him that he couldn't have seen that I did or didn't have the belt on with the tint. I mailed in a picture of the tintless windows as proof of compliance.

Ron_H

I have to agree with Nicole on this one. Red car, loud exhaust, obscure vision into the vehicle. Is any of that cause for concern? Not to me. But to an officer, it might well be, rightfully or not. For starters, red cars irritate, and stimulate and many other "ates" and simply draw attention to the vehicle over other vehicles. This is a good thing: it makes driving one easier and safer. But this kind of reasoning is not part of some officers' personalities. I'm generalizing but it is a fact that red cars are ticketed more often than any other color. Loud exhausts say: "Here I am. If you want me come get me". And they do. Is it justified? Hardly. But remember we are dealing with a personality type that abhors non-uniformity of any kind. Why draw excessive attention to oneself when they are around? Finally, consider what an officer
thinks when he spots a car into which he cannot see. He is curious. He is a police officer, and we pay him / her to be curious and suspicious. And he deals with fear every minute he is on duty; fear of the unknown lurking around the corner that could jump out and bite him if he isn't careful. Personally, I do not want to have an officer suspicious about what is happening inside my car. I want them to be able to see me and what I'm doing in it. If I have a weapon in it, I make it a point to tell them its there. I want nobody carrying a gun to wonder what is happening around my car. And I don't want them to fear my in any way whatsoever, including being jealous or unsure of my identity.

But that's just me.

Mongo

You should see my neighbor Ron, a 550 Maranello, blacked out windows, Capristo Stage 3 exhaust. I hear his car start up a half mile away. Now that is an attention-getter, not my little bowl of Kraut.

I know what you mean Ron from an officer's point of view. I believe an incident in the early 1980's caused this tint law and ruined it for most people that link tint out there. There are bad apples as sick as that suspect out there. It's too bad that the Law Enforcement cannot invest into technologies such as smaller infrared type units that can allow someone to see the heat of a body inside the car to indicate whether or not someone is reaching for registration, or a handgun.

Nevertheless, I'm not sure if any of you have come to realize this based on a certain situation or not, but tint can even save lives by preventing the amount of tempered glass from contacting your body in the event of a collision. With that, I am a perfect example when I had loss my '84 944 back in 2004 to a Ford Bronco that broad-sided me and drove his SUV onto my roof while jabbering on a cell phone speeding in a residential neighborhood. The police officer actually had said to me if my front windows had not been tinted, I would be in the hospital getting a referral for facial reconstruction and eye surgery as the tint kept the tempered glass together and provided a thin sheet of protection from getting cut up.

Because of this, it has always been in the back of my mind to start a petition on this based on facts and photos collected of my car post-accident. This event has inspired me to conduct more research on how petitions can affect and amend laws if brought to the right politicians attention and how many citizens out there agree with the same point of view. Only problem is, how the hell do you start a petition for something everyone in the State Gov. is against?

Mako 928

I wonder if it was the same young CHP officer that was on the side of the freeway, 101 S. bound last Friday at 7:40 am W/ his Lidar gun pointed at traffic.
Funny thing was due to the commuter rush traffic could not go over 50 mph. Speed limit in that area is 65 mph.
He must have been a noob as the infamous speed trap in that area is on the other side of the freeway at that time of the morning.
Which brings up a point. Where exactly did you get the ticket for 60 mph? Reason I ask is that the speed limit changes from 65 mph to 55 mph just after the Lucas Valley exit. I would look into this as that portion of the ticket "could" be considered a moving violation.

Mongo

Before the TL exit. I believe right after that it changes to 55.

BBX

Mr. Ticket
Mitch Medhy
3990 9th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103-3211
(619) 563-1515

He's a great attorney, got me out of a few tickets.
Give him a call for some advice, or possibly take your case.

ciao,
BB

Mongo

I know him. he got me out of one. I don't think he works SF Bay Area though.

BBX

Yeah, but you could still ask for his advice. Plus your a previous client.
Mitch and I were on a first name basis back when I used to ride my bikes on public roads...
I used to score with all his hot receptionist...lol.

scottzj

Sounds like he might need to become a client for life hahaha