Window Tint ticket

[RedTailHawk]

Driving from VA to NC last week, I was in a convoy of cars cruising down I95 when we passed a cop. Speed limit was 70 and the entire group was doing about 80. After we pass the cop, I see him slowly pull out onto the highway (no lights flashing yet). A couple cars at the front of the group peel off at the next exit. The cop slowly catches up in the rear, then hits his lights and speeds up and gets on my ass.

Once pulled over, I put down both my front windows because I'm not sure which side of the car he'll approach. The officer walks up and says he didn't pull me over for speeding, but said "your window tint is not legal". Asks me to raise the windows slightly and puts a little device on the window to measure the darkness of the tint. He said 50% is the limit in VA. Mine was 23% (I figure that's the 35% I had installed on top of the light factory-installed tint).

While pulled over, he also gave me a ticket for not having a front license plate (I had just removed it a couple weeks ago when I installed the Rigid 20" light bar).

So now I have to figure out a way to mount the front plate (possibly the license bumper mount from an F150 Ecoboost) and learn to either put down the windows whenever a cop is nearby or get used to getting a ticket. The truck just looks perfect with the dark tint. I don't think I can go back to stock tint.

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

Driving from VA to NC last week, I was in a convoy of cars cruising down I95 when we passed a cop. Speed limit was 70 and the entire group was doing about 80. After we pass the cop, I see him slowly pull out onto the highway (no lights flashing yet). A couple cars at the front of the group peel off at the next exit. The cop slowly catches up in the rear, then hits his lights and speeds up and gets on my ass.

Once pulled over, I put down both my front windows because I'm not sure which side of the car he'll approach. The officer walks up and says he didn't pull me over for speeding, but said "your window tint is not legal". Asks me to raise the windows slightly and puts a little device on the window to measure the darkness of the tint. He said 50% is the limit in VA. Mine was 23% (I figure that's the 35% I had installed on top of the light factory-installed tint).

While pulled over, he also gave me a ticket for not having a front license plate (I had just removed it a couple weeks ago when I installed the Rigid 20" light bar).

So now I have to figure out a way to mount the front plate (possibly the license bumper mount from an F150 Ecoboost) and learn to either put down the windows whenever a cop is nearby or get used to getting a ticket. The truck just looks perfect with the dark tint. I don't think I can go back to stock tint.

Some of the guys with the Rigid bar in in the lower grille just flipped the plate up and mounted it to the two screws so that it is in front of the painted part of the bumper instead of the grille opening.

As for the tint, sometimes you gotta pay to play.

 

[6.2]

yeah ill never tint my windows darker than the legal limit, no matter how good it looks darker. city cops up here are such ******** about anything like that. guess it depends what youd rather, getting the odd ticket, and having nice looking tint, or not as nice looking and no ticket

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

yeah ill never tint my windows darker than the legal limit, no matter how good it looks darker. city cops up here are such ******** about anything like that. guess it depends what youd rather, getting the odd ticket, and having nice looking tint, or not as nice looking and no ticket

In TX, we have these little stickers at the bottom right corner of the driver's door that says your tint is legal. So whenever I get my truck, I'm gonna have the dealer put the sticker on and tint the windows. Then, when I get the rear windows done darker, I'm gonna put another layer of 35% on the front windows and it should be about limo. Makes things a little better for me and the back windows would still be darker than the fronts.

 

[6.2]

Up here on trucks the backs can be whatever you want, back side windows can be 35% and front side windows can be 50%. Windshield can only have the top 5" 50%

 

[BOJANGLES]

In TX, we have these little stickers at the bottom right corner of the driver's door that says your tint is legal. So whenever I get my truck, I'm gonna have the dealer put the sticker on and tint the windows. Then, when I get the rear windows done darker, I'm gonna put another layer of 35% on the front windows and it should be about limo. Makes things a little better for me and the back windows would still be darker than the fronts.

That must be an East TX thing... I've never seen those stickers out West. I've had illegal tint on almost every vehicle I've ever owned and never has a TX cop given me anything more than a verbal warning about it.

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

That must be an East TX thing... I've never seen those stickers out West. I've had illegal tint on almost every vehicle I've ever owned and never has a TX cop given me anything more than a verbal warning about it.

I'm from Houston (too many people riding dirty) and go to school in College Station (glorified security guards that do nothing but write traffic tickets and mess with college kids) so any pesky probable cause will get you pulled over in a jiffy. My dad got tickets on two different vehicles for no front plate and my neighbor got a ticket on his X5 when he had 50% tint on the front just because he didn't have a sticker.

 

[Humvee21]

yeah ill never tint my windows darker than the legal limit, no matter how good it looks darker. city cops up here are such ******** about anything like that. guess it depends what youd rather, getting the odd ticket, and having nice looking tint, or not as nice looking and no ticket

I went the safe 35% on my fronts, but the tint guy still warned me that if there was an overcast or something that the translucency device could read it below the legal limit of 30% (in GA that is). So, I guess it's just an unsure thing if you get the 30%. He told me that the 35% could read as low as 20%... I'm not sure how true that is. Maybe someone can confirm or deny the statement.

---------- Post added at 01:28 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 AM ----------

In TX, we have these little stickers at the bottom right corner of the driver's door that says your tint is legal. So whenever I get my truck, I'm gonna have the dealer put the sticker on and tint the windows. Then, when I get the rear windows done darker, I'm gonna put another layer of 35% on the front windows and it should be about limo. Makes things a little better for me and the back windows would still be darker than the fronts.

I've heard some places passed that law just so it'd be easier for the popo to identify the tint.

 

[Fred]

Driving from VA to NC last week, I was in a convoy of cars cruising down I95 when we passed a cop. Speed limit was 70 and the entire group was doing about 80. After we pass the cop, I see him slowly pull out onto the highway (no lights flashing yet). A couple cars at the front of the group peel off at the next exit. The cop slowly catches up in the rear, then hits his lights and speeds up and gets on my ass.

Once pulled over, I put down both my front windows because I'm not sure which side of the car he'll approach. The officer walks up and says he didn't pull me over for speeding, but said "your window tint is not legal". Asks me to raise the windows slightly and puts a little device on the window to measure the darkness of the tint. He said 50% is the limit in VA. Mine was 23% (I figure that's the 35% I had installed on top of the light factory-installed tint).

While pulled over, he also gave me a ticket for not having a front license plate (I had just removed it a couple weeks ago when I installed the Rigid 20" light bar).

So now I have to figure out a way to mount the front plate (possibly the license bumper mount from an F150 Ecoboost) and learn to either put down the windows whenever a cop is nearby or get used to getting a ticket. The truck just looks perfect with the dark tint. I don't think I canur vehicle when they approach go back to stock tint.

I live in va and have the same tint. You can get a medical waiver that allows your current situation. With all the skin cancer out there and if you have a lot of "windshield" time it should be easy for a doctor to sign off on for you. The form is on DMVs website for the waiver.

The purpose, IMO, for the tint issue was to ensure the cops could see into your vehicle when they approach. You, again IMO, rolled down your windows to take that issue off the table.

As far as the front plate, I got two driving awards for not having one on my vette. Third time you can't prepay and must go to court. I will say that in Va most judges do NOT appreciate troppers handing out BS tickets for front plates and tint. They should have better things to do and I have personally seen a tropper remanded by a judge.

Sounds like this tropper was just looking to make a quick buck for the treasury. What a waste of resources.

 

[Big Green Machine]

I'm from Houston (too many people riding dirty) and go to school in College Station (glorified security guards that do nothing but write traffic tickets and mess with college kids) so any pesky probable cause will get you pulled over in a jiffy. My dad got tickets on two different vehicles for no front plate and my neighbor got a ticket on his X5 when he had 50% tint on the front just because he didn't have a sticker.

I'm not saying what they do or don't do but just for information, SCOTUS has ruled that dark window tint does not, in and of itself, meet the criteria as probable cause. It is an articulable fact which needs additional factors observed to reach PC.

That being said, people, including my coworkers do stuff all the time that's in the gray areas.

~BGM