OK... Tint law... Thoughts?

[cOoTeR]

^This. Never met a Statie in Ohio that wasnt a total knob. OSHP dont write warnings. At least not that I've hear of.

^This too.

I got a verbal warning for 77 in a 55 a few years ago on 42 between 70 and Plain city. Now you've heard of a warning from a statie.

[FZRMatt]

So, I check the ORC and it doesn't say a freakin thing as to the tint allowance. Now, I know what the tint allowance is per the tint shop and the internet after Googling. But, here's my issue. If the ORC doesn't give an exact tint allowance, how do you know what is legal and illegal? Sure, we can all be smart and find the details, but if I violated a set ORC and that ORC doesn't have a detailed amount allowed, how can it be determined it is illegal?

You have to check the specifications when reading the ORC. Here is what we go by:

4501-41-03 Specifications.

(A) No person shall operate, on any highway or other public or private property open to the public for vehicular travel or parking, lease, or rent any motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this state with any sunscreening material, or other product or material which has the effect of making the windshield or windows nontransparent or would alter the windows’ color, increase its reflectivity, or reduce its light transmittance, unless the product or material satisfies one of the following exceptions:

(1) Any manufacturer’s tinting or glazing of motor vehicle windows or windshields that is otherwise in compliance with or permitted by “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 205” (FMVSS 205) in effect at the time of the manufacture of the motor vehicle until such standard is subsequently repealed or reduced. In “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 205,” (FMVSS 205) “manufacturer” means any person engaged in the manufacturing or assembling of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment, including any person importing motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment for resale. “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 205” (FMVSS), Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Part 571, can be obtained online at web site www.access.gpo.gov/nara.

(2) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied to the windshield when used in conjunction with the safety glazing materials of such window, has a light transmittance of not less than seventy per cent plus or minus three per cent and is not red or yellow in color.

(3) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied to the side windows to the immediate right or left the driver, so long as such material, when used in conjunction with the safety glazing materials of such windows, has a light transmittance of not less than fifty per cent plus or minus three per cent and is not red or yellow in color.

(4) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied to a window not otherwise listed in paragraphs (A)(1) through (A)(3) or (A)(5) of this rule, except that outside left and right rear view mirrors are required if the sunscreening material is applied to the rear window and the sunscreening material, when used in conjunction with the safety glazing material of such window, has a light transmittance of less than fifty per cent plus or minus three per cent.

(5) Any sunscreening material or other product or material applied along the top of the windshield and that does not extend downward beyond the AS-1 line or five inches from the top of the windshield, whichever is closer to the top, is not regulated by this rule or this chapter.

(B) No person shall install in any motor vehicle any glass or other material that fails to conform to the specifications of this chapter.

© No used motor vehicle dealer or new motor vehicle dealer, as defined in section 4517.01 of the Revised Code, shall sell any motor vehicle that fails to conform to the specifications of this chapter.

(D) No reflectorized materials shall be permitted upon or in any front windshield, side windows, sidewings or rear window.

(E) No person shall operate on any highway or other public or private property open to the public for vehicular travel or parking, lease, or rent any motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this state that is equipped with privacy drapes, louvers, curtains or blinds unless the drapes, louvers, curtains or blinds are open and secure during vehicle operation.

(F) All motor vehicles, beginning with the 1990 model year, must be equipped with labels identifying sunscreening material. All sunscreening material must indicate the manufacturer’s name and the percentage level of light transmission of the material permanently installed between the material and the surface to which the material is applied or affixed. Such label must be legible and must be placed in the lower left-hand corner of the vehicle window when viewed from the outside.

[chevysoldier]

[cOoTeR]

Sorry but I hate the Leo bashing that happens on most bike forums.

[chevysoldier]

Sorry but I hate the Leo bashing that happens on most bike forums.

I agree. I didn't really feel like getting into this one but I figured there would be a couple that would. Lol

[cOoTeR]

I agree. I didn't really feel like getting into this one but I figured there would be a couple that would. Lol

Sometimes I feel like going 21 Jump Street in the park on people just because.

[FZRMatt]

How about this question... Can anyone tell me if the $115 is the norm or if it was higher than typical? I am not going to fight it, I guess from talking to friends and what you all have mentioned. But, I also don't want to pay at the high end of the spectrum because I got short with the guy once he decided to cite me.

I suppose I should have kept quiet and maybe he would have cited me for something else that was cheaper or something... Dunno... $115 seems a little high. I think my dad paid something like $75 last year...

I believe that in Franklin Co. the fine is upwards of $140. I read that had you received a written warning, you would have removed it. USUALLY, in Franklin Co., if you go to a professional shop and have it removed, take the receipt to court, and show the prosecutor, they will drop the charge. It is not a guarantee, but is a real possibility.

[ChiefScooter]

Don't think it's high. I got pulled over a couple years ago by state patrol in Dublin for the same thing and the ticket was 125.00. The guy was a dick about it. I just paid it and moved on.

Reminds me of a story from way back. Had a buddy get pulled over in his BMW for this by another state patrol and as we wait for the cop to write him the ticket he says 'pimping ain't easy' and I replied back 'or cheap'.

Same thing happened to me in Dublin like... 10 years ago. I just bought a "new" car (1991 Mazda MX-3) that had really dark tint on it. I had the windows down when I passed a cop, he ignored me. I picked up my girlfriend at the time, and rolled the windows up, and drove past that same cop. He pulled me over, said the tint was too dark, gave me a ticket. I was a new driver at the time, so I was quite surprised. I was definitely ignorant of the law, and didn't know I could get in trouble, especially since I bought the car that way. Needless to say, that tint came right off, haha.

Now that I am thinking about it, I got a ticket in Dublin from a cop for have a neon license plate frame, too. He said only the white lights from the factory were allowed. I told him something along the lines of "no way", and he pulled out a book and showed me in the laws. I was quite stunned from that one, too. As a kid, I didn't understand why neon license plate frames were such a big deal, as an adult... well, I still don't understand, but I don't think they are "cool" anymore, regardless.

[FZRMatt]

yup, they even wrote an ammendment to the constitution about it. (check #4). If the cop says he can't see in your window, then you say, "I do not consent to any searches, Officer." (Barring, of course, you haven't given him or her any probable doubt about the issue.)

You have zero expectation of privacy in your vehicle on a public roadway.

[VanDy]

I understand it is the law. But, had the other three done something and not blown it off? It wouldn't be on, man.

The other three did do something, they pulled you over, did you think you were going to get away with it forever?

-VanDy

[Moto-Brian]

Sorry but I hate the Leo bashing that happens on most bike forums.

But the problem isn't LEOs in general. There are always going to be dicks no matter what field of work you are in. I get that. However, your example of the LEO coming up on a dark tinted window vehicle makes sense to worry IF they have their window up and he cannot see. I put the window down immediately and pulled over quickly and had my hands on the window frame for view. I know what you guys go through as I stated - I HAVE FRIENDS THAT ARE LOCAL AND STATE TROOPERS AND SHERIFFS.

I hear their stories, etc. Again, not wanting this to turn into a LEO is an asshole thread. I respect what they do and how they do it. I also understand that each and every pull over needs to be treated like it is the last one you'll ever do. Got it. Tough job, deadly job, stressful job. Check.

But, understand that each and every officer that pulled me over, each and every officer friend I have and know all said the same thing or hinted at the same thing. Writing a ticket for illegal tint is not typical unless the officer is a dick or having a bad day. By the tone of their joking and such, I would have never guessed I was getting cited. Also, being honest with the guy was something I have learned to just be quiet about next time. That obviously meant jack shit to him.

Look, this officer is a ticket writer. My buddy is head of a department of State Troopers and he has one guy that he says would write his mom a ticket and is the #1 ticket guy on the team. Some guys are like that. It just doesn't make sense if 3 out of 4 of the same State Troopers think it is something not worth writing even a warning about.

Oh, and I have had warnings before. State Trooper gave a written warning on a tint for my VW about 6 years ago. I also got a warning written about my expired license plate on my trailer several years ago.

Again, almost all the State Trooper experiences I have had were pleasant and proper. I get caught speeding? I get that. It's one of the highest contributors to accidents. I understand. But again, consistency is what I think we as citizens are looking for. That's all.

All I came on here was to ask if one, it was a points issue. If it was, I was going to fight it. Two, if there was anything I can do as I do haul a lot of expensive cargo.

I think at the end of the day, if they can tint the shit out of their unmarked cars and K9 unit cars for their work environment, so should we as tax payers and business people be allowed to get the proper registration work to allow it to be used also. I am willing to pay a fee to have tinted windows. Simple as that. Again, you haul a $20k bike and have it stolen and try to keep your job, try to get through the hassle of insurance and everything that comes with the situation.

There was a busted end table partially in the freeway about 3 miles prior to where they were sitting. There was a Dole box of bananas in the middle of the freeway right at the Crawford/Richland boarder on the same freeway east of their location. They are paid to do just as their decal on the side of the car says - "patrol". Instead of sitting in the medium chatting and not even clocking speeders, they could have been driving and taken care of the shit in the freeway that is much more hazardous than a guy driving a van with tinted windows...

Didn't mean to get you pissed off and have you thinking we all think LEOs are assholes. There is a certain dude on here that I rode with to the races with that I think is a great dude and know he does an excellent job at being an LEO. I don't think he's an asshole or even remotely think he is like this guy that pulled me over.

Call it being a cry baby. Call it a deal where I just need to get over it. Whatever you want to say out loud is fine to help you get through it all. But, I just wanted to get answers to two questions really. I'm over it. I am paying the fine and keeping the tint. Move along.

[VanDy]

To sum it up:

3 LEO's don't care about the tint.

1 LEO did and wrote you a ticket.

Seems to me the one that wrote you a ticket is just doing his job, and not picking and choosing which laws to enforce.

Imagine if all leo's pick and chose which laws they were going to enforce. Would kinda make the system pointless wouldn't it?

(although I do understand this is the way it kinda works with not ticketing for 1mph over and what not, but they can ticket for it. But it is within their power to do so.)

-VanDy

[Moto-Brian]

The other three did do something, they pulled you over, did you think you were going to get away with it forever?

-VanDy

None pulled me over because the tint. They used the tint as a reason to pull me over and check on the van. The third guy pulled me over for speeding and mentioned the tint. The fourth guy yesterday pulled me over and cited me for tint only.

The other three were cool and even the one guy on 270 near 23 on the south side was really the coolest. He said that "Other Troopers can be kind of prickish and give you a ticket for tint"... How classic is that? He was even an older guy that probably had more years on the force than most. He just wanted to check on a white van that had black windows and see if everything was up and up... The first guy was on the way up 71 to the IX center when I was hauling an RC8R up to the Cycle World Show. He wanted to verify the cargo as they had several State Troopers in the mediums along that stretch and they were actually pulling over cargo vans and box trucks. Seems they were looking for something. He's the guy I showed the contents to...

He simply stated after that he pulled me over to check the van. He initially stated he pulled me over due to the tint. But again, used it as a primary and told me at the end the real story... He was super cool and even apologized as it was spitting snow and handed me my license back and said "get out of the cold".

The speeder guy was nice. I always have my license and reg/insurance ready in these situations and when he got back with my ticket, he said "by the way, those windows are as illegal as all get out" or something to that effect and chuckled. He then told me to watch my speed and walked away.

Again, it is all about consistency. I know it is a law. i get it. I think it is a law that is just like a tail light. If it is broken, yes, you can get a ticket. It is an equipment violation and not a moving violation. How many LEOs write tickets for tail lights?

[Moto-Brian]

To sum it up:

3 LEO's don't care about the tint.

1 LEO did and wrote you a ticket.

Seems to me the one that wrote you a ticket is just doing his job, and not picking and choosing which laws to enforce.

Imagine if all leo's pick and chose which laws they were going to enforce. Would kinda make the system pointless wouldn't it?

(although I do understand this is the way it kinda works with not ticketing for 1mph over and what not, but they can ticket for it. But it is within their power to do so.)

-VanDy

Dude, I told you five hundred times. i know it is a law. See tail light reference. The issue with your idea is that YES, LEOs CAN and DO apparently make field judgements and determine if the ticket is reasonable or not. If you are speeding like Scruit was and were 25 MPH over. The LEO decides that for whatever reason, it is worth a warning. But, the same day, gets a guy running 15 over and writes a ticket. It's something that happens everyday. Everyday...

What I guess I am saying is that there was some sort of judgement call made. This time, I wasn't wearing my KTM or Team shirt. I was in ragged old clothing due to working on our kitchen and picked up supplies at Lowes. I probably looked like a kid or something with the flat bill, etc. Not like a guy that works for a motorcycle manufacturer.

Whatever. He made a call. He decided that I needed to be cited. Like a TON of others on here have stated, they too feel it is a BS law and that they even went as far as to get a note from a doctor to allow them to keep running the tint.

You've never once been pulled over for something trivial and ticketed? Ever?!?!? I highly doubt it. Otherwise, you'd get what I am saying.

[SWing'R]

This is going nowhere.

[VanDy]

None pulled me over because the tint.

They used the tint as a reason to pull me over

Now I am really confused. I'm going to go bang my head against a wall now.

-VanDy

[VanDy]

Yes, I have been given some "BS" tickets before, but they were all legit, I paid and moved on. Lesson learned.

-VanDy

[TheBrown57]

Sorry but I hate the Leo bashing that happens on most bike forums.

Agreed.

My Uncle is a State Trooper here and is the nicest man you can ever meet. Ive been pulled over by 2 staties (1 in my car and the other on my motorcycle) they were both very polite and professional, one gave me a ticker (when I was in a car) and the other told me to slow down and get home.

Ive been pulled over by locals multiple times and only got one ticket. All were polite and professional.

[Moto-Brian]

Now I am really confused. I'm going to go bang my head against a wall now.

-VanDy

Of course you are confused. They used tint as a reason, but the real reason they wanted me pulled over was due to it being a van and looking suspicious. Understand? In other words, if I had my FJ and running the same window tint, they wouldn't have done shit.

They use the tint as a reason when the objective was to see what the van was all about. They cannot pull me over just because the van looks suspicious... Get it now?

Swing - you are dead nuts right. I am spinning my wheels at this point. Got my answers. Moving along now... Hell, mods? You can lock 'er up if ya wanna. VanDy is probably still confused and even burning a bearing up by now, but I am outta here.

[madcat6183]

The other thing that sucks huge is that the color of your van magnifies your color of the tint. I've had illegal tint on all my cars/trucks and been pulled over like 10 times, never once had anyone say anything to me about the tint, a few other things. But in the end the color of my trucks and cars are all the same and they make it look lighter than it is. 20% all around.

We went with 35% on Amanda's SUV because she works in Hillard and I was told they are d*cks about. I also run smoked license plate covers on all our cars. Got pulled over that on Memorial day, well he said it was "that" but it was because he ran my plates and saw my OVI and I was coming from 2 well known bar areas(had been dropping my TT off), and he just said my truck was nice and I needed to remove them. I even have an illegal strip on my windshield.

He was OSHP and was super nice, I wish he would have simply said I ran your plates, saw your OVI and wanted to check, but that would be illegal as they can't just do random stops.

In the end, it sucks, but I'd pay the ticket and move on. I found out the hard way trying to fight tickets anymore just adds court costs etc.

Edit: knock on wood I don't get at ticket this week...

[Moto-Brian]

Agreed.

My Uncle is a State Trooper here and is the nicest man you can ever meet. Ive been pulled over by 2 staties (1 in my car and the other on my motorcycle) they were both very polite and professional, one gave me a ticker (when I was in a car) and the other told me to slow down and get home.

Ive been pulled over by locals multiple times and only got one ticket. All were polite and professional.

Agreed. I've been pulled over more times than probably anyone on here. All times for the most part have been professional and polite and even cool. Had one State Trooper pull me over in my diesel truck for speeding, gave me a ticket and was super cool. He sat there and was asking about the mods I had done to it and was genuinely interested and cool about it. I have a ton of stories like that.

But, I have had a few dick heads. But again, it is all about when you catch them in terms of mood and such. But, 9 out of 10 times, super cool and doing what they should be...

[Moto-Brian]

The other thing that sucks huge is that the color of your van magnifies your color of the tint. I've had illegal tint on all my cars/trucks and been pulled over like 10 times, never once had anyone say anything to me about the tint, a few other things. But in the end the color of my trucks and cars are all the same and they make it look lighter than it is. 20% all around.

We went with 35% on Amanda's SUV because she works in Hillard and I was told they are d*cks about. I also run smoked license plate covers on all our cars. Got pulled over that on Memorial day, well he said it was "that" but it was because he ran my plates and saw my OVI and I was coming from 2 well known bar areas(had been dropping my TT off), and he just said my truck was nice and I needed to remove them. I even have an illegal strip on my windshield.

He was OSHP and was super nice, I wish he would have simply said I ran your plates, saw your OVI and wanted to check, but that would be illegal as they can't just do random stops.

In the end, it sucks, but I'd pay the ticket and move on. I found out the hard way trying to fight tickets anymore just adds court costs etc.

Edit: knock on wood I don't get at ticket this week...

Yeah, but that Hillbilly rig of yours isn't near as cool as my lifted creeper van! Come on, man! They see that thing and get sucked in to the coolness. Then they notice it is illegal. I need to camo that puppy!!!

Paul! Get in here! Camo or flat black pricing STAT!!

[Ron505]

I have never gotten a warning...for anything, always a ticket. I have always been respectful and nice.

You've been quite lucky in my eyes.

[madcat6183]

Yeah, but that Hillbilly rig of yours isn't near as cool as my lifted creeper van! Come on, man! They see that thing and get sucked in to the coolness. Then they notice it is illegal. I need to camo that puppy!!!

Paul! Get in here! Camo or flat black pricing STAT!!

Bro if you Camo that gangsta van, it's game over, we will never know when or where you are at the track, until we see that sexy KTM rolling down the pits.

Flat black would just be straight gangsta, but the tint probably wouldn't look that dark.

[redkow97]

I skipped the middle 3 pages, but I think this boils down to two pretty simple but opposing views:

1) the tint law is just an excuse to pull people over and check for suspicious activity; thus actual tickets shouldn't reall come into play unless there is another violation (rolling meth lab?)

Or

2) repeated warnings only aggravates the offense rather than mitigating it.

A judge could one down on either side of this just as many of us have. The safest bet is to lighten up the tint and go to court apologizing.