Attn: Window Tinting in PA

[naSTI]

All,

Please quickly develop an attention span long enough to read through the whole law that will be effect as of April, 2005.

The link is: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2005/0/HB0277P0300.HTM

Of ALL things that suck about this new law, they add insult in section (7) of the law.

But just incase it goes away for some reason:


THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

No. 277 Session of 2005


INTRODUCED BY PRESTON, BISHOP, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, COSTA,
CRAHALLA, CURRY, DeLUCA, DENLINGER, DONATUCCI, FICHTER,
FRANKEL, HARHAI, JAMES, W. KELLER, LaGROTTA, LEDERER, MELIO,
PALLONE, PISTELLA, READSHAW, SCAVELLO, THOMAS, WALKO AND
YOUNGBLOOD, FEBRUARY 8, 2005

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, FEBRUARY 8, 2005

AN ACT

1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, further providing for windshield obstructions and
3 wipers.

4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Section 4524(e) of Title 75 of the Pennsylvania
7 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
8 ß 4524. Windshield obstructions and wipers.
9 * * *
10 (e) Sun screening and other materials prohibited.--
11 (1) No person shall [drive any motor vehicle] operate on
12 a public highway, road or street a motor vehicle that is
13 registered or required to be registered in this Commonwealth
14 with any sun screening device or other material which does
15 not permit a person to see or view the inside of the vehicle
16 through the windshield, side wing or side window of the
17 vehicle , except in accordance with the provisions of this

1 subsection .
2 (2) This subsection does not apply to:
3 (i) A vehicle which is equipped with tinted windows
4 of the type and specification that were installed by the
5 manufacturer of the vehicle or to any limousine, hearse,
6 ambulance, government vehicle or any other vehicle for
7 which a currently valid certificate of exemption has been
8 issued in accordance with regulations adopted by the
9 department.
10 (ii) A vehicle which is equipped with tinted
11 windows, sun screening devices or other materials which
12 comply with all applicable Federal regulations and for
13 which a currently valid certificate of exemption for
14 medical reasons has been issued in accordance with
15 regulations adopted by the department.
16 (3) A certificate of exemption shall be issued by the
17 department for a vehicle which is:
18 (i) Registered in this Commonwealth on the effective
19 date of this subsection and is equipped with a sun
20 screening device or other material prohibited under
21 paragraph (1) on the effective date.
22 (ii) Equipped with tinted windows, sun screening
23 devices or other materials for a physical condition that
24 makes it necessary to equip the motor vehicle with sun
25 screening material which would be of a light
26 transmittance or luminous reflectance in violation of
27 this section.
28 (A) A certificate of exemption [for medical
29 reasons] as a result of a medical condition shall be
30 issued only if the owner or registrant of the
20050H0277B0300 - 2 -
1 vehicle, or a person residing in the household of the
2 owner or registrant who regularly drives or is driven
3 in the vehicle, suffers from a physical condition
4 determined by the department, in consultation with
5 the Medical Advisory Board, to justify the exemption.
6 (B) Any person requesting an exemption for
7 medical reasons shall have his physical condition
8 certified to the department by a licensed physician
9 or optometrist.
10 (4) A certificate of exemption issued under this
11 subsection shall be carried in the vehicle and displayed on
12 request of a police officer.
13 (5) Upon the sale or transfer of the vehicle to any
14 person who does not qualify under paragraph (2)(ii), the
15 exemption shall be null and void. Prior to the sale or
16 transfer of an exempt vehicle, it shall be the sole
17 responsibility of the owner or seller of a formerly exempt
18 vehicle to remove all sun screening or other materials from
19 the vehicle. At the time of the sale or transfer of a
20 formerly exempt vehicle, the owner shall remove and destroy
21 the certificate of exemption for physical reasons and provide
22 the purchaser with a notarized statement setting forth the
23 name and address of the owner or seller, the vehicle
24 identification number, year and model, and the business
25 entity and process used to remove the sun screening or other
26 material.
27 (6) Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the use
28 of:
29 (i) A sun screening product or material along the
30 top edge of the windshield as long as the product is
20050H0277B0300 - 3 -
1 transparent and does not extend beyond the AS-1 portion
2 of the windshield or six inches from the top of the
3 windshield.
4 (ii) A sun screening device or material used in
5 conjunction with the automotive safety glazing materials
6 of the side windows located at the immediate right and
7 left of the driver that has a light reflectivity of no
8 more than 15% and a visible light transmittance level of
9 not less than 70%.
10 (iii) A sun screening device or material used in
11 conjunction with the automotive safety glazing materials
12 of the rear window or the side windows located behind the
13 driver that has a light reflectivity of no more than 15%
14 and a visible light transmittance level of not less than
15 35%.
16 (iv) A sun screening device or material on the rear
17 side windows or rear window of any multipurpose passenger
18 vehicle or pickup truck.
19 (7) Each manufacturer and installer shall:
20 (i) Provide a label, not to exceed one and one-half
21 square inches in size, having permanent and legible
22 installation between the sun screening material and each
23 glazing surface to which they are applied that contain
24 the manufacturer's and installer's names and the
25 percentage of light transmittance and reflectance.
26 (ii) Include instructions with the product or
27 material for proper installation, including affixing of
28 the label specified in subparagraph (i). The labeling or
29 marking must be placed in the left lower corner of each
30 glazing surface when facing the vehicle from the outside.
20050H0277B0300 - 4 -
1 (8) No person may:
2 (i) Offer for sale or use a sun screening product or
3 material for motor vehicles not in compliance with this
4 subsection.
5 (ii) Install a sun screening product or material on
6 vehicles intended for use on public roads without
7 permanently affixing the label specified in paragraph
8 (7)(i).
9 (9) A person who operates a motor vehicle in violation
10 of this subsection commits a summary offense and shall, upon
11 conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $100 for the first
12 offense, a fine of $200 for the second offense and a fine of
13 $500 for each successive offense.
14 (10) A manufacturer or installer that violates this
15 subsection commits a summary offense and shall, upon
16 conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine of $250 for the first
17 conviction and a fine of $500 for each successive offense.
18 (11) The department shall approve devices which police
19 officers use to measure the degree of tinting on windows for
20 the purpose of enforcing compliance with this subsection.
21 (12) As used in this subsection, the following words and
22 phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
23 paragraph:
24 "Manufacturer." A person engaged in the manufacturing or
25 assembling of sun screening products or materials designed to
26 be used in conjunction with vehicle glazing materials for the
27 purpose of reducing the effects of the sun.
28 "Multipurpose passenger vehicle." Any motor vehicle that
29 is:
30 (i) designed to carry no more than ten persons; and
20050H0277B0300 - 5 -
1 (ii) constructed either on a truck chassis or with
2 special features for occasional off-road use.
3 "Sun screening device." Film material or device designed
4 to be used in conjunction with the motor vehicle safety
5 glazing materials for reducing the effects of the sun.
6 "Visible light transmittance." The ratio of the amount
7 of total light allowed to pass through a product or material
8 when applied to the glass surface to the amount of total
9 light. A 5% tolerance is allowed when checking the light
10 transmission for enforcement purposes.
11 * * *
12 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.


A6L75JLW/20050H0277B0300 - 6 -


Gentlemen, this sucks. I was also told that ALL vehicles, regardless of when the tint was installed must meet these requirements, unless you have a medical exemptions.

This law was specifically designed to protect cops who complained about not being able to see inside drivers windows from outside the car.

./ Da Bomber

[teh DIRT]

boo urns. but im not worried. The law states (now) that the minimum is 70%.....i dont think they even make 70%. what im trying to get at is that i have 20% and i know people who have less....none of us have been bothered/

[wrx_snobordr]

I dont have any tint. So as of right now this law doesnt affect me. But it sucks that they are going to make manufacturers put a tag on each window there is tint on. So much for the clean car look...bastards.

[TROLL]

ok i made it through about 2/3 and that was tough. i dont see how this is any different from the current law though. my only concern is that the law is surfacing and they might be handing out tint tickets more readily for a while as a result. i have 35% all around, for the record.
bryan

[Smokescreen]

I thought you couldn't be pulled over for tint and they could only get you for tint if they already have you for something else...?

I don't have any tint, but I was thinking about it. Are they tryin to say they are raising the min to 85%?

[the mike]

I suck at reading legalese. Are they saying that you can tint to 15% and have a 6" strip on the windshield? What is so different about that?

:confused:

[TROLL]

its 15% reflectivity (for mirror tint) and 70% light transmittance (normal charcoal colored tint). light transmittance is the one that applies to most people, and it means that 70% of light must be able to pass through the windows. what they dont tell you is that all cars come from the factory with a tint in their windows, and it is usually 70% already.
the lightest aftermarket tint i've ever heard of is 50%. like i said, i have 35%... with it you can still see inside during the day but it does look tinted. at night its dark. if i pull up at a stoplight next to a cop i roll my front windows down, regardless of the weather. other than that, its all good...
bryan

[TalonTsi97]

Im not sure what tint i have but its not dark at all. You can see in easly, never had a problem yet. My car had the tint on there when i bought it thats why i dont know.
I think this does suck for some people, but i guess there is a reason for it

[bjc26]

I am not a big fan of the tint laws... They use officer safety as the reasoning behind most of their arguments, yet the back windows can be as dark as you want. That in itself doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You would think they would like to be able to see into the back of the car as they approach it, rather than just see through the front window when they get up on top of the car.

I have had tint in both of my cars, the mazda I went light with and just did 35% on the front 20% on the back, the talon is 5% all around (limo tint). I almost always drive with the windows down, weather doesn't matter, so it hasn't bothered me. In the three years my windows have been tinted I have never caught a ticket for it. NJ laws state no front tint whatsoever so I roll down my windows when pulling up beside a cop or when going through small towns.

The major problem became p a s s i n g inspection. NJ started cracking down on the front tint offenses so a lot of your shops who used to sell inspection stickers no longer will... Laws will be broken and I am sure people won't go out and rip off their tint or stop tinting windows because of it. Just be smart about it and avoid the system! :finga:

(Sorry for the spacing in the above paragraph. For some reason that word caught the language filter.)

[naSTI]

I think the point everyone is missing, is:

a) They can pull you over for a vehicle standards infraction just becuase the officer "believes" you didn't meet the legal requirements, or to see your exemption. (NOT LIKE EVERYONE WILL BE PULLED OVER NOW, BUT , EVEN THOUGH THIS THREAT ALWAYS EXISTED, YOU NOW HAVE MORE HOOPS TO JUMP TO BECOME COMPLIANT).

b) To stress the point above, Penn. has a Motorvehicle 5 day compliance card that you can be issued. So essentially, you can get pulled over, metered/tested, and you can be issued (if the cop doesn't fine you) the card which requires you to remove the tint (or fix the item under complaint). This gives you five days to fix the problem and then show up at the station of the issuing officer and demonstrate you have corrected it. At this point your options would be to 1) Remove it, and show up, 2) Pay the $100 fine or 3) Contest it in court.

c) EVEN IF YOUR TINT MEETS THE GUIDELINES, NOT HAVING THE LABEL (even if you installed the tint before this law), CAN BE ENOUGH TO WARRANT YOU GETTING PULLED OVER.

d) You can still get pulled over because the officer couldn't see into your passsenger compartment.

AGAIN, I think many of us feel like there's not much you can do, or aren't going to go through the expense of changing out tint to comply, or simply don't care doesn't change the fact that you may be an easy target.

And YES, even though rear windows are not measured, they still need to have the label, including the 6" strip on the front window!

Wheew! Sorry for going on and on.. but it just pisses me off.

./Da Bomber

[TROLL]

can you tell me what is different about the new law that didnt already apply to us before? when i got my tint i knew i was running the risk... i dont really feel much different about it now. if an officer wants to be a jerk he'll ticket you... thats true now and it was true a year ago too.
bryan

[naSTI]

The main difference is that, before (unlike all other states), there was NO percentages listed in any previous PA law, and thus arguing the ticket could be easier, because the law only stated that you must be able to see in the front windows.

Now the law has those % listed and if your windows are a bit darker than permitted OR simply no label, you lose! IT'S JUST MORE AMMO FOR THE COP. :thumbdow:

The source of my being upset, though, is mainly coming from Florida, this law just seems absurd.

Hey guys, if anything, I hope this thread helps you understand exactly what the new law is.

./Da Bomber

[TROLL]

see i always went off of this, so i always thought that 70% was the limit... http://www.iwfa.com/iwfa/Law_Chart/State%20Law%20Chart.htm
bryan

[naSTI]

see i always went off of this, so i always thought that 70% was the limit... http://www.iwfa.com/iwfa/Law_Chart/State%20Law%20Chart.htm
bryan

And off you went! That's a sweet chart! :cool: <- Oops these shades are too dark for PA!

./Da Bomber

[Padge]

Ive been pulled over twice in Morrisville Yardley for my tint (in my old Prelude).

First time I was pulled over for going 6mph over the limit (51 in 45) and given a ticket JUST for my tint, I personally feel he used the "speeding" to just give me a hard time for the tint. That one cost $100.

Second time I was pulled over was on Main St in Yardley. I was not speeding or doing anything incorrectly. The officer just pulled me over for the tint and nothing else. That cost me $100, but I took it to court and the officer actually apologized to me outside the court office and told me to let him talk so it would be written off. I got out of that ticket :supz:

Anyway, I had 35% on my car when I was pulled over.

[TROLL]

wow i never heard of that around here. i guess i'll be a little more nervous around the po-po here...
bryan

[alachua]

The previous PA law was rather vague, and did not specificly mention percentages. There was a memo passed around regarding inspection stations that mentioned percentages. This memo was often mistaken for law, although it wasn't. These tint laws are somewhat similar to what a lot of other states have.

As far as the law goes, I will be part of the unpopular minority, and say I support it. As a motorcycle rider, I am terrified at night that I will be invisible to a driver due to their tint blocking 75% + of what little light my bike puts out. Couple this with the fact that many of these drivers are young, inexperienced, and typically have loud stereos installed which make it more difficult to hear me, and you can see why. As far as people saying that its nonsense that its only the front windows, realise that if a cop can see in the front windows, he can see the rear passengers.

The bottom line is, much like the last law, this law will be disregarded by the general demographic that consumes dark tint. Enforcement will vary from municipality to municiplaity. The places that are bastards for the little stuff already will have another citation to write. The places where the police protect and serve, opposed to harass and tax, will continue to write citations only to violators that are pulled over for other offenses.

In the past, I had fairly dark tint (12% all around). I was pulled over by a PA state trooper on a sunday afternoon where I had my front windows down. He wrote me a citation for having tint below the AS-1 line on my windshild. When I questioned how he determined this, having been behind me the entire time, he was less than forthcoming with an answer. Now, I prefer not to have my vision obstructed. Also, I found it hard to tell at night if I had a police car behind me.

-Cliff

[vwcorradokid]

Just another reason for a cop to pull me over and TRY to give me a ticket. They never seem to though cause I happen to mention that my dad is a police officer in internal affairs. Try that line sometime.

Admit that you know you were wrong and you should know better because your father is in internal affairs in Philadelphia (This only really applies to people that happen to live in Philadelphia because of that little part on your license that says city) It's worked several times for me(except in Virginia and Georgia, they're pricks down there)

[SmokeyBandit]

Formula One has 70% tint -- even though it's made for UV...so it's not a real tint.

That is sort of one good thing about Jersey....rear tints allowed

[SilverTurboRidin]

i got tint on the neon.....idk what % it is though.....east coast customizing did it.