Penalties for tinted windows
Discussion
Afternoon
just interested if any one else out there has been caught for tinted windows. The reason I ask is that earlier in the year had been caught by a panda car cop and he decided to go the full monty and gave me an £60 fine and three points. took the slap on the wrists sent my license off and it came back done deal I thought. When it came to insurance time I told the company about my points and gave them the offence code and was taken back by the brokers responce.
For my troubles i was given an MS60, this is for all convictions not covered by any existing codes as there is no code yet for tinted windows. In the eyes of the insurance companys this is up there with no insurance and failure to delcare and many other heavy hitters.
So my insurance looks like going from £400 a year to £845, just for f----g tinted windows.
I have spoken to the DVLA and the police. Even my local station think that this is unfair and beyond the level of the offence but the DVLA say its an issu for the courts and the courts say its upto the DVLA, going around in circles trying to get this changed.
Any one else run into this? any body been able to get a fairer treatment?
just interested if any one else out there has been caught for tinted windows. The reason I ask is that earlier in the year had been caught by a panda car cop and he decided to go the full monty and gave me an £60 fine and three points. took the slap on the wrists sent my license off and it came back done deal I thought. When it came to insurance time I told the company about my points and gave them the offence code and was taken back by the brokers responce.
For my troubles i was given an MS60, this is for all convictions not covered by any existing codes as there is no code yet for tinted windows. In the eyes of the insurance companys this is up there with no insurance and failure to delcare and many other heavy hitters.
So my insurance looks like going from £400 a year to £845, just for f----g tinted windows.
I have spoken to the DVLA and the police. Even my local station think that this is unfair and beyond the level of the offence but the DVLA say its an issu for the courts and the courts say its upto the DVLA, going around in circles trying to get this changed.
Any one else run into this? any body been able to get a fairer treatment?
Don't break the law then, you knew they were illegal, thats the punishment in law, if you had an issue with it you would have had to challenge in court, however you accepted the fixed penalty, end of. Tinted windows can be very dangerous and have caused accidents especially at night, it's not like having a loud exhaust which can just be annoying, it's actually a safety issue.
Somnophore said:
Don't break the law then, you knew they were illegal, thats the punishment in law, if you had an issue with it you would have had to challenge in court, however you accepted the fixed penalty, end of. Tinted windows can be very dangerous and have caused accidents especially at night, it's not like having a loud exhaust which can just be annoying, it's actually a safety issue.
True, but you can wear sunglasses whenever you like. It's not a safety issue, and the law is not really about seeing out, it's more about the police not being able to see in.Renquist said:
I was driving behind a Police C or S Max (people carrier thing) the other day and the rear window had the darkest tinting I've seen, it was film too and not factory, hadn't been put on well either as it was bubbled in the middle, one law of us...
you can legally black out the rear window and rear passenger windows (if you have them) just nothing to dark on the drivers and front passenger side glassThis catches alot of people out as the law is the windows must allow (i think) 75% of the light through but am i right in saying this only applies to the front windows and windscreens? Because lots of new cars now sold with optional extra's of tinted windows on the rear surely dont comply with that.
Renquist said:
I was driving behind a Police C or S Max (people carrier thing) the other day and the rear window had the darkest tinting I've seen, it was film too and not factory, hadn't been put on well either as it was bubbled in the middle, one law of us...
Not really. There are no limits for tinting behind the B pillar, IIRC. You aren't required to have visibility out of the back window? Ie small vans...Renquist said:
I was driving behind a Police C or S Max (people carrier thing) the other day and the rear window had the darkest tinting I've seen, it was film too and not factory, hadn't been put on well either as it was bubbled in the middle, one law of us...
Ermm no. You can have blacked out rear windows, the offence is for the windscreen and front side windows only.calibrax said:
True, but you can wear sunglasses whenever you like. It's not a safety issue, and the law is not really about seeing out, it's more about the police not being able to see in.
If its not a safety issue then it damm well should be. Have you driven a car with heavy tints at night? You can see approximately jack s
t out of them apart from headlights. I personally think that any car found to be driven with dark tints on the front windows, the driver gets the aforementioned penalty,
Anyone found with medium/light tints on the front windows should be given a stern telling off/at most a Fine and told to rectify it
My past few cars have had lightly tinted windows and when driving its barely noticeable, i remember a crack down in our local cruiser area a few years ago on tints, and myself and a friend were parked directly opposite the Traffic car carrying out the checks, both of our cars had lightly tinted windows and they took absolutely no action with either of us over the matter.
Anyone found with medium/light tints on the front windows should be given a stern telling off/at most a Fine and told to rectify it
My past few cars have had lightly tinted windows and when driving its barely noticeable, i remember a crack down in our local cruiser area a few years ago on tints, and myself and a friend were parked directly opposite the Traffic car carrying out the checks, both of our cars had lightly tinted windows and they took absolutely no action with either of us over the matter.
Window tint is not part of the MOT test, so yes you can get done for it if they don't allow the minimum percentage of light through. I had a BMW in for test a few weeks ago, the front windows had additional tinting and the most that I could do was advise it. At least if the owner gets pulled for it in the future, it can be proved that they knew about it and can't claim ignorance.
lost in espace said:
I have a Defender that has just passed its mot with tints, am I right in saying this will mean they are fine if the police check with their tester?
I don't think so, no. AFAIK only trafpol have the meters to test the tint level. I'm not sure what the MOT actually checks with regard to windows.Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff