!llegal Front window tinting

Good News! Took four calls from customers stopped by police for !llegal front window tints this week.

One was made to rip the film off at the road side on another the officer scratched the tints so badly they would have to be taken off. VLT on one was 23.3% another 37% areas covered were oxford, Manchester and London has anyone else heard of this starting up again?

Also does anyone know what happened - if anything - to that Tint shop being prosecuted by the police. Rep from a film company told us about this a few months ago?

here is a question....is it actually legal for a police officer to scratch the tint? I know it is !llegal to have the tint...but what if the person is wanting to fight the ticket in court? I was once told about a cop reaching into a guys car and scratching the tint with his pen...the guys lawyer told him that amounts to assault. Anybody know the legal ramifications of this? and what if in scratching the tint, they scratch the glass...do they have to replace it?

I have not heard of this - please tell me more.

Oh well, i see your not in Portugal, :
that sort of thing is always happening here and no one complains, even that is ilegal, cops still make ppl remove it in the road.

The good news are, that since January, it's finally legal to tint cars, with 75% W/S, 70% driver door, and anything from driver to the back, the moment it is certified films, it's ok.
The major problem is that you have to go to a new MOT that costs around 95€ and then ask for a new car document that costs you more 45€, so you just make the math and see how much it costs o tint cars in Portugal...

Oh well it's a begining, and thanks God i've been busy, otherwise.....

Not a lot more that I know ND - except that the shop was essentially saying F U and continuing to put out dark tints on fronts saying it was the customers responsibility. The rep said police and trading standards were taking it through the courts and he did not want to name the shop yet . Could be BS . I'm interested because I'll fit 50% if pushed and I've lost quite a bit of business to people fitting 35 and darker.

Don't think it would stand up in court here. Hopefully common sense would prevail - you've got something !llegal on your car you can't take it off at the side of the road I think the officer is right providing he does not damage the car itself. But then the US/Canada are far more litigious - although UK is catching up.

Cars in the UK can be taken off you and crushed by the police in some circumstances - such as no tax, insurance and unroadworthyness.

Surely that means that you still can't put anything on windscreen and front side windows -except clear UV/security films. Even they can bring the VLT down slightly.

Hi Tim, the police round my way arent that bad and every now and then they have a crack down but its not normaly for tinting, but there dose seem to be alot more 35% and below going around my way these days. Like yourself, i only put 50% at a push but i still try and steer punters way from having anything on the fronts what so ever.

Hey Potz

I was speaking to some traffic police today - they tell me VOSA are setting up periodic checks for various traffic offences - one week it will be just tinted windows. They typically arrange for a couple of police units and set up an inspection area near a busy junction. Then any car that goes by with tints they pull over - check the levels with a "tintman" meter issue a prohibition notice or impound the car for excessive tints.

He pointed out that they would not scratch a tinted window in order to ensure it was removed as this would amount to criminal damage. He did say that when the tints were excessive instaed of impounding - they'd give the offender the opportunity to remove it at the side of the road. He went onto say that if a tint shop was continuing to fit excessive tints to the front windows that they would eventually be prosecuted.

He pointed out that if someone was killed in an accident as a result of tinted front windows the tinter would be sued and end up paying for the rest of their life. He also said the insurance companies first question is how can they avoid paying out a claim.

He made it clear I was breaking the law by fitting 50% even when pushed - but could understand my argument. Just as I was starting to think 50 was okay as a last resort now I'm thinking I need to find something lighter. When I mentioned the fact that we were losing business to shops fitting darker, he said this was an ongoing process and that traffic police are "graded" on their performance. The more offences they get the better for the individual officer and tinted windows are a very easy target.

Confirmation of stuff I already knew but nevertheless interesting to hear the view of police. Conversations I have had in the past have been with VOSA or ordinary Police - this guy was more knowledgable.

Tim, suntek do s 55% in carbon, this is what I would use.

The laws an ass...a 50% should be acceptable.

Yes we have stock of it, along with Baekart Ultra Performance 70 - which we have used. I don't think I have anything to worry about but my original post was about increased activity and I think everyone would be pleased to see the very dark tints stamped out.

This was on BBC last night http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b00...on_pid=b00b2gk6 a couple of people have mentioned it to me today.

Watch it from about 16 minutes and 20 secs - the first question the police office asks is who tinted your windows for you.

those front were way too dark

good post ...

How can we UK tinters get together and make a change in the law because it killing our work and sooner we're gooing to get penalised too!

I know dartzfilm do a 70% but most customers say its too light! and I try to sway them away from 50% but you gotta eat eh?

50% is a sensible vlt for fronts i agree and will fit em.

complaining and moaning will do nothing to change the law.

a while back, i petitioned through my local mp about the change and got nowhere, basically its not important enough to noticed in the house of commons etc. i asked on this site for uk based tinters to write some sort of support letter so i can have them to hand to show how the law change will affect us directly and loads of tinters agreed but in the end only about 3 actually sent a letter.

in the end i received a letter from the shadow secretary for the department of transport basically telling me to back off but in a more politically sounding way lol

at the time i used johnsons, and someone from their uk dealership in southampton agreed with what i was saying/doing and vowed to help but in the end he went silent so to top it all i had very little support from the people i was trying to help and years later this is still going on. just tint legally and be done with it. if you HAVE to tint the fronts use 70% or maybe 55% suntek carbon as i do. not a great thing to do but the law is up its own arse and the police have such varied ways of dealing with this, something has to be done!

I went 1.5 years without filming a front window and decided this January to start again. No more than 50% though. Reason being, a guy came in to get his front windows removed (we didnt tint it) that came in at 35%, the letter he had been given from VOSA states that the driver and passenger windows are below 45%????? So I rang them up and they say that
0-30% they class as dangerous. Points, fines and an immediate prohibition notices
30 - 45% they class as just illigal and sometimes fines but normaly a 10 day prohibition notice
45 - 70 they are just advising its not illigal and not asking people to remove it.

He acutaly showed me his computer with the above advisory information on it, he just wouldnt give me a copy. I do however have a copy of the letter the guy got for his !llegal tints.

So the Suntek 55 carbon on top of the factory tint will keep it above 45%, I have just started using it. Before that we were using Johnsons Greystone 50%, but this doesnt always keep it above the magic 45%.

Other than that, the police did have a little bit of a clamp down recently, but seem to have stopped now. Love it when they clamp down as they send all the removals to us.

Kay

Just been informed by my supplier that a window tinter close to me has just been fined £1000 for fitting 50%....thats all i know ??

I had a customer get stopped on there way to a modified car show in Cardiff a few weeks back, the rolling road block type, he had 50% on the
fronts but measured well below that and had to remove it then and there or have the car taken off the road. The old bill pushed him hard to find out
who tinted his car (gulp) the driver told him hes had it done since 2002 ( which was about right ) and been stoped dozens of times for one thing or another
bur never a mention about his windows. It seems to me that the police are now clamping down HARD and are going to go after the tinters...or so it seems and i know this is nothing new to us here but im sure things are going to change with local fuzz and trading standards taking this very serious.

Hey Potsy

Very interesting - kinda new it was coming. It would be good if you could find out more about the £1000 fine. On some cars 50% can meter below the magic 45%.

I still see far too many brand new cars with really dark front window tints and I still think this is what is causing the problem - but as long as people are willing to pay someone will always do it.

just read your post customkay - we have the same situation here. It is nice to have something in black and white.

[quote name='Tintim'

Tim, il do some more digging around and see what else i find out mate. I had a guy phone for a quote only last week, befor i get to the technical jargin i always explain the law and ask if they of aware that the front drops cant be done what so ever and go on to explain the VLT thingy, they bloke on the phones says " thats ok, im a traffic officer and i understand fully" he gose on to say that he called 5 tint companys in the area getting quotes for his Mazda 6 estate and i was the only one to say that the fronts cant be done point blank but the others were quite helpful and willing to fit a light smoke, anywho, i tinted his car Monday, (YES no fronts) we had a long old chat about tinting and put the world to rights, it seems, in this case anyway it pays to be truthful and honest...most of the time. Tim, if you want the full length version just give me a call as i cant be assed to type it all...itl take me hours and my spellings pants.

The law is the law and we cant change that... stick to this and you will not go wrong -however its still down to the individual law enforcement body to take the appropriate action, be it the driver or tinter.... I personally have not heard of any tinter being fined yet but it not to say ithas or will happen. I agree with CustomKay to some extent, as there seems to be some confusion or a case of a mixrd message between the Police and Vosa - or it is the way VOSA word it?

My only other thought is how the tint will affect the driver insurance if they become involved in an accident where the tint contributed towards it... no rep from any supplier should quote anything but what is the law...its down to the tinter to decide what he or she is going to tint...the buck stops here.

read here.

sureley a pointless thread that will go on and on

we all know the law

its down the the tinter if they want to break it and by how much

ok when you strip tint dont you leave adhesive so bad that your visibility is bad? so aint it stupid for a cop to make you take tint off

Point is police activity is increasing on this. I have had further news on it this thursday with one of our Landrover dealers saying they has a bulletin from Head Office stressing that no front side window tinting should be taking place. They wanted to know what we were doing for other Landrover dealers. Clearly this is an issue at present.

Hey Potsy I'll buzz u next week.

Hey Tintim i'm in your neck of the woods and ive stopped tinting all front doors now. Just not worth the bother.