Window Tint

[Junkyard Dog]

So I get stopped by the police.

I was driving a little fast, but I did not think it was fast enough to be stopped. The officer was sitting in the safety gore between the left lane and the left hand turn lane. I stopped at the red light in the left lane about twenty feet ahead of his front bumper. When the light turned green, I saw him put his Explorer in gear and start moving forward.

He pulled into the lane behind me.

Ok, maybe he is going somewhere . . .

Nope. He turns on his red and blue lights.

I put on my turn signal, move over to the right, and make a right hand turn on the entrance to this industrial park to get us off the highway. I stop, roll down my window, and push the big red button to shut my car down.

He approaches and sniffs in, very loudly. I am sitting there with my driver's license in my hand looking confused. He sniffs again.

"Nope, wrong car," he said.

Now I am even more confused. He took my driver's license and explained that he smelled a strong odor of marijuana When I stopped at the stop light. I suppressed my laughter at this obvious falsehood and tried to keep quiet about it. He then explained that my window tint was too dark, and he thought I was younger, or he would not have stopped me.

Baffled, now, I just tried to maintain my composure, be polite, and not make any Smart Alec comments.

He then asked me to roll up my window part way, and put a tester on it, and measured the window at, he said, "Technically, technically illegal, 27%"

My state requires 32% with a tolerance of 3%.

"There is my PC!" he announced.

Groan.

Anyway, no ticket, but now I am concerned I have illegal window tint. I bought the car with the tint on it.

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[GeekGT5.0]

So I get stopped by the police.

I was driving a little fast, but I did not think it was fast enough to be stopped. The officer was sitting in the safety gore between the left lane and the left hand turn lane. I stopped at the red light in the left lane about twenty feet ahead of his front bumper. When the light turned green, I saw him put his Explorer in gear and start moving forward.

He pulled into the lane behind me.

Ok, maybe he is going somewhere . . .

Nope. He turns on his red and blue lights.

I put on my turn signal, move over to the right, and make a right hand turn on the entrance to this industrial park to get us off the highway. I stop, roll down my window, and push the big red button to shut my car down.

He approaches and sniffs in, very loudly. I am sitting there with my driver's license in my hand looking confused. He sniffs again.

"Nope, wrong car," he said.

Now I am even more confused. He took my driver's license and explained that he smelled a strong odor of marijuana When I stopped at the stop light. I suppressed my laughter at this obvious falsehood and tried to keep quiet about it. He then explained that my window tint was too dark, and he thought I was younger, or he would not have stopped me.

Baffled, now, I just tried to maintain my composure, be polite, and not make any Smart Alec comments.

He then asked me to roll up my window part way, and put a tester on it, and measured the window at, he said, "Technically, technically illegal, 27%"

My state requires 32% with a tolerance of 3%.

"There is my PC!" he announced.

Groan.

Anyway, no ticket, but now I am concerned I have illegal window tint. I bought the car with the tint on it.

Yeah he had no reason to pull you over. But yeah, nothing much can be done, tint gotta be replaced.

 

[LouG]

Lucky you didn't recently fart. Ticket for sure.

 

[porterhousestk]

You absolutely should make a (respectful) formal written complaint. Especially if this is in your own neighborhood. They cannot stop you, THEN come up with a reason as to why they stopped you. I have a high respect for law enforcement, but at the same time I have high expectations that they don't abuse their power. If I were his boss, I would want to know about this.

 

[Frogdog1]

You got pulled over because you were in a Mustang. That simple. People that drive Mustangs are bad people......at least the young people I see hot rodding them to get nowhere fast. What baffles me is that most places can't recruit enough cops but they use the ones they have for window tint. C'mon man.......

 

[jbrnigan]

Probable cause stops, even as sketchy as yours, take more drug dealers / users, under the influence drivers, bad guys with warrants, revoked, uninsured, licenseless drivers etc ... off the streets, than any other law enforcement action. FWIW
(20 years county law enforcement)

 

[Yamazuki]

Quite simply, if they want to pull you over, they'll find a reason to.

 

[Wiley Marmot]

@Junkyard Dog ---no big yank. You got stopped by Johnny Law for reason or reasons "unknown". Didn't get a ticket, and all it cost you was a few minutes. You handled it properly.

"If" it were me; I wouldn't do **** about the tint. If Johnny was serious; he'd have issued an equipment violation (or what ever they call it in your state).

PS: And, knock off that Devil Weed while you're driving!

 

[Sofa King]

Purchased my S197 with windows already tinted. Got pulled a couple times in the small town I live in. They said the tint was too dark, but never put a meter on it or issued a citation... I traded it in on a S550 with the same tint on it 12 years later!

 

[pc104]

When you get pulled over that's the time to put your phone in the cupholder and record everything

 

[LouG]

To be honest, when I was a cop, and if we had the number of guns around that there is in the 'States, I'd be hard on window tints too.

 

[GeekGT5.0]

Probable cause stops, even as sketchy as yours, take more drug dealers / users, under the influence drivers, bad guys with warrants, revoked, uninsured, licenseless drivers etc ... off the streets, than any other law enforcement action. FWIW
(20 years county law enforcement)

The end doesn't justify the means. You can't violate people's rights, break the law, and then say "Oh see we get bad guys doing this unconstitutional activity."

I mean, why not just set-up checkpoints everywhere and say something like "Yor papahs, pleess." You'll catch all the bad guys then. "Hile Oonkel Zahm" imma right?

 

[DarkkMatter]

If a shop did install they should have given you a proof of installation and what power was used, etc. Mine always gives me that in case I ever get stopped.

 

[jbrnigan]

The end doesn't justify the means. You can't violate people's rights, break the law, and then say "Oh see we get bad guys doing this unconstitutional activity."

You are absolutely right and I agree ........ Unfortuneately, the OP did provide the cop with probable cause ....... AND, that often results in catching "bad guys".

 

[Skye]

You're aware of the legal limit for tints. We can't determine the accuracy of the device used by the police. Not to split hairs over a few percentages, but I'd go to a tint shop and have them measure in a few places. This will confirm where you're at.

As to the LEO and being pulled over, you handled yourself well. Good on you. FWIW, I do same: I let the LEO take whatever path they're on and let sleeping dogs lie.

You know the standard for the legal levels of tint. I'd review the ordinances in your county and laws in your state for the fines or punishments. If initially cited in my city, I'm expected to remove the tint violation within a certain period. No points. No fines. No court. If pulled over for a second time, same offense, things can then ratchet up.

While pulled over, you haven't been cited. I'd leave the tint in-place until formally ticketed with one exception: If you find they can do things like impound the vehicle or impose fines in the first instance of citation, and you are out-of-bounds in measurements taken by the shop, I'd get the tint fixed.

Edit,

As to the topic of probable cause, when I studied this, I found so many gray areas within legal texts. Further, what constitutes probable cause in one city (tens of thousands), county (3000+) or state (50) might not in another.

One thing I've found particularly irritating to a LEO is quoting ordinances, laws and using the term "constitution". Even if you're right, don't begin explaining law to a LEO. Things have the potential to spiral out of control quickly. If it ever comes to it, file a formal complaint afterwards; it keeps the situation temperature at a minimum while documenting a problem.

If pulled over, don't begin reaching for things or moving inside the vehicle. Just sit there, hands on wheel, vehicle off. Always place your hands where the LEO can see them. Don't move until the LEO asks you for something. Do not make any sudden or unannounced movements. If there are firearms in the vehicle, without moving, explain yourself to the LEO, what is in the car and where it is. Follow their directions afterwards.

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