Stop me if you've heard this one...

Falls Church City, Route 7. Everyone in this area knows the cops hang out and snag people for exceeding the 25 mph speed limit throught there, all the time.

So, sure enough, there's smoky with his motorcycle, aiming his radar at oncoming traffic. I was going the other direction. He glances at me, no big deal.

I notice him stroll over to his bike and I don't think much of it, but sure enough 2 minutes later he's behind me.

The Falls Church City Sheriff was very quick, maybe 5 - 8 minutes total stop time. So I give him props for being cool and not delaying me.

But, he had me put up my window half way and drop the tint meter on it. Told me they were illegal and, oh yeah, so's the tint film on my tail lights.

Long story short (too late?) he strokes me a ticket for the tint. It's a $30 fine, $61 court costs, no points, pre-payable. No ticket for the tail lights and, when I ask, he can't give me a reference to look it up and determine what's legal. He said something about not diminishing the brightness of the stock lights (since he wasn't citing me for the taillights, I didn't bother telling him they weren't stock ). I hadn't heard about this before, so I'm looking for a code reference if you have it.

So, here are my options, I think, and I'm looking for advice:

a) remove the tint, pay the fine, be done with it (or have it re-tinted legally)
b) remove the tint, go to court, get the fine waived but still have to pay court costs
c) leave the tint, pay the fine, be done with it and avoid Falls Church. Risk getting another ticket and having to pay another $100. It took me a couple of years to get this first one and I've been pulled up along side other cops numerous times with no reaction.

Any thoughts, experience, advice?

Thanks!

 

Option C!

Screw the POPO

 

Dude was looking for an excuse to write a ticket. Keep the tint.

 

I got stopped a couple weeks ago by the local yokels in Perry, Gerogia, for too dark tint. I asked what was the legal % and he said 35% - I told him the dealer installed it and told me it was legal - he whipped out his tint-o-meter and sure enough, 35% - he said it looked darker due to the dark interior . Said he'd note it in my "permanent record" (the same one I had in high school for spit-*****? ) to preclude stops in the future. Anyway, no ticket.
I'd find out local legal % and get it re-tinted, and if the dealer did it, give them the bill. If others did it, too bad.

 

Option D: Get out of state tags where the local PD doesn't have jurisdiction

 

i got pulled over yesterday i was on i-95 going north towards Oakland park ( south FL). I was in the Hov lane with my partner in the passenger seat. The cop pulls me over and gives me a ticket for my tint which is 5% tint

I have 3 options also but it comes in handy my best friend is a cop so i am getting the ticket thrown out.

I was always under the impression that they need to pull you over for speeding then they can give you a ticket for tint.

 

Its people and cops who pull that **** that make the general public certain that the process and all cops are corrupt. I wouldn't brag about it.

I agree with thulewx, get legal.... or don't feel indignant if you get pulled over again in the future. Its like when I get a speeding ticket, I know I'm speeding so I quietly accept it.

 

Ask your best friend his honest opinion of tint laws. He may get you out of this but ironically, he is probably in favor of tint laws. If your best friend stops a car (for any reason) and approaches it, would YOU prefer that the car have 5%, or legal tint?

 

In Virginia, illegal window tint is a primary offense, so the police can ticket you for it without having to pull you over for something else first. Not all states are the same, though.

 

Option E, get darker tint.....

comon i know you have deep pockets, John

 

That does not work in the Communist-wealth of Virginia.

 

Two other things...

1: If the officer didn't clean the window before putting the tint meter on it, he violated procedure and the ticket should be dismissed/thrown out or whatever they call it.

2: If he did clean the window first, ask in court when the last time the meter was calibrated. Also check with the manufacturer of the tint meter and see if it's susceptible to vibration such as it would experience riding around in the saddlebag of a motorcycle. More so if it's a Harley.

 

It does for us

 

sooner or later, that will catch up with you. the local PD will ticket you for not having proper county stickers (at least that's what they do in VA to ensure personal property tax collection)

 

Same here. Having parents living across the creek is

 

Hmm this generated some interesting points. Here are my thoughts

- I'm personally not complaining about the ticket, my tint wasn't right and he pulled me over. My problem, not his. I was surprised he bothered, but I've since learned that the motorcycle cops just enforce traffic laws, they don't respond to calls.

- He did not clean the window before dropping the meter on it and he did not show me the result. I have a relative who's a cop in another local jurisdiction and he's going to measure the tint out for me to see if it's really 25%. But, I have no intention on fighting it, I'm not one to argue the technicalities on something this small.

- I 100% agree that I do not want cars driving around so dark that LEO can't see into the car. Mine are not that dark - however, it was a cloudy/overcast day and my car is already black and I have a dark interior. So it magnifies the look. See pics at http://www.flickr.com/JustDandy (look for the latest ones, with the darkened taillights).

- Tint was not done by dealer, done by an independent shop on Route 7, near Reston, VA.

What's next? I'm going to visit with my LEO family contact, get a measurement and their input/feedback. It's a no-points violation, so I guess I'm just worried about either escalating fines or any potential impact on insurance.

And also whether getting pulled over for a repeat offense would then really, really, iritate the officer and mutually ruin our days.

I'll keep you updated! Further thoughts & experiences appreciated.

 

the MINI has factory tint in the glass...mine metered at 26% so it's no surprise. What's silly about tint laws is that I can get a waiver for mine just by having my doc sign a VA State Police form (I get migraines). Further, it's ok to have tint on a car that reads 26% as long as it came from the factory that way. So, there are a multitude of reasons it would be ok to have dark tint and the cop wouldn't ticket you for it. This to me means it's less about safety and more about revenue collection.

 

My comments FWIW...

Falls Church police suck! Sorry about your ticket.

Virginia tint laws allow for 50% tint on the front driver/passengar windows and 35% for the back windows. Don't know about the taillight darkening. What is the purpose of that? (don't take offense, I am genuinely curious)

I also want to reiterate that it does not matter where your car is registered re: tint laws (or those outrageous traffic tickets in VA). Police can pull over and ticket a MD car/driver in VA if they want. The liklihood of that happening is lower than if it was an in-state car but nevertheless, it can happen.

I agree that this was probably one of those revenue stops. I think you should probably pay the fine and remove the taillight tint. I think cops see the window tint all the time but the taillight tint is something that will catch their eyes and lead to a higher chance of getting stopped.

 

No offense taken

It's for aesthetics - pic of the rear of my car:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/...61dbafc222.jpg

And see more about the protective and colored films at:

http://www.lamin-x.com/

 

+1

 

That's what I did with my no front plate ticket. I was going to fight it, but then I found out the fine and fees TOTAL, were $35. So I just said take my lunch money, I don't care, and left the courthouse.

 

Make it legal or just take the random ticket. I run no front plate on my MINI and so far have had no issues, but could be one if they decide to enforce it.

 

An update for you - no less than a week later I was in PG county, up by University of Maryland. I had just left the Comcast Center at 10:30pm and I was looking for signs to I-95, so I was sort of meandering along. All of sudden, my wife says "let's get a sundae", I say "Where?" and she says, "There, at McDonald's" - just ahead on the right.

I was in the center of like 5 lanes, so I move to the right, accelerate slightly and make a beeline for McD's. As I turn into the driveway, there's a Berwyn Heights PD behind me with lights flashing! SERIOUSLY?!

She approaches the car, I politely ask what's wrong, etc, etc. She says I was driving erratically, didn't use turn signals, and they wanted to make sure I wasn't drunk. She asked if I turned into McD's to avoid her (I assured her I didn't).

10 minutes later, she brings me back a warning for the not using turn signals (nbd, I'm usually pretty **** about that anyway). Not a single mention of the tinted windows, tail lights, license plate cover - nada.

Now, I'm sure the overall look of the car contributed to capturing the attention and close scrutiny of the officer, so there's some consideration in that. But it's also interesting to know that it was not enough of an issue to warrant a mention by this particular officer.

Just thought I'd share.

 

wait. you got warned for no turn signals in MD? I didn't even think they were mandatory there....at least from the utter lack of their use from any car with MD tags that is.

 

Tint laws are more restrictive in VA than in MD. You can have 35% all around (except front windshield in MD). No mention of the taillights?