hk111 wrote:

On a different note, if you're so down on tinted windows, what are your thoughts on smoked lights?

The original poster was speaking of after-market tint added on top of the factory tint. Simple , both are illegal.

Ahh....tinted windows...

Well let's see...

1. They make it harder for police to see if you are wearing your seatbelt. - Safety-

2. They make it harder for police to see if you are on your cell phone. -Safety-

3. They make it difficult to identify the driver. -Accountability-

4. They make it difficult to pedestrians and other drivers to make confirmed eye contact with drivers in order to know if they've been seen before stepping / pulling out. -Safety-

5. That if you were a police officer approaching a vehicle it is much more difficult to see if a weapon is being raised at you. -Safety-

6. They provide no safety benefit. -No safety-

7. The black colour actually attracts heat causing parked cars to actually be hotter, not cooler when parked in the sun. -No comfort-

8. That drivers have NO PRIVACY rights while operating motor vehicles on public roadways. -Accountability-

9. That even a slight amount of tint makes it impossible to see into a vehicle at night, whereas cars without tinting do not suffer from this. (Not saying it's easy, just MUCH easier to see into an untinted vehicle at night. -Safety / Accountability-

10. The argument that it keeps your valuables more secure is moot, cause your insurance, the police and common sense tell you not to leave valuables in your car. -Common sense-

I write more tint tickets than you can shake a stick at, the best part, I take a photo and NEVER EVER lose in court (well maybe one out of thirty)

Smoked headlights? Awesome, if you want to reduce the effectiveness of the equipment that helps you be seen? Darwin has a scale for you.

If you get into an accident and the other driver says 'He was hard to see cause his headlights were so dim' Good luck with your insurance after that.

As for my comment that you must be hiding something...I've arrested dozens and dozens of drivers who continue to drive with suspended licences including the brother of a local tint shop owner (He's been suspended for 17 years) all cause they had dark tint. Another fella had been suspended 32 years, but never been seen driving (in the early years anyway) by the officers who suspended him cause of window tint.

I've never had window tint on my vehicles, the cars stay cool after 30 seconds or air con...I don't leave expensive things in my car...blah blah blah...

Just imagine somebody you love being run over and killed by a driver hiding in their window tinted vehicle...police come to tell you your daughter / son / mother / wife is dead, they won't be able to do much for you though, the witnesses could not id the driver. Take care, happy life.

While I'm not saying you are necessarily hiding anything by tinting your windows, it may appear so to the police and do you want to get their attention?

I'm going to get my windows tinted to:

1. Keep the sun out of my son's (14 months) eyes

2. Reduce the temperature inside the car, I believe it does work

3. Help my eyes when there is a truck, 1/2 ton and up, behind me driving my Mazda 3

4. It does look cool

I won't go so dark as to hide everything, just dark enough to help with the above items.

My windows were factory tinted, and you cannot see in the rear windows, period. The driver left and right are also tinted and I personally think it's a little too dark but my cousin, an OPP officer, took a look and said I should be okay. No problems, and I bought it in 2003. If I did get a ticket, I would not be surprised, though.

Also, my car does stay cooler in the summer, and the protection from the sunlight does help me as the driver, especially when it's really bright and tons of snow. I've got to wear shades as I get stabbing pains in my eyes from the brightness. I know many people get that when they first step out into much brighter surroundings and quickly acclimate, but that happens to me even when I've acclimated. Nothing wrong physiologically to the eyes, however. I've had them checked out.

I've had no tint in all of my previous cars, and when I get my next one, I will get tint, but much lighter (like the sepia-looking tints I see).

hwybear wrote:

hk111 wrote:

On a different note, if you're so down on tinted windows, what are your thoughts on smoked lights?

The original poster was speaking of after-market tint added on top of the factory tint. Simple , both are illegal.

I'm sorry. Can you clarify "both?" Are you saying that any after-market tint is illegal in Ontario?

FyreStorm wrote:

Ahh....tinted windows...

...

As for my comment that you must be hiding something...I've arrested dozens and dozens of drivers who continue to drive with suspended licences including the brother of a local tint shop owner (He's been suspended for 17 years) all cause they had dark tint. Another fella had been suspended 32 years, but never been seen driving (in the early years anyway) by the officers who suspended him cause of window tint.

...

A couple of bad apples don't spoil the whole barrel. Most folks on the road, even with tinted windows, are just honest citizens going about their honest business. If you start viewing everyone suspiciously, pretty soon we're all living in paranoia-ville. And that's not a happy place.

(I seem to recall another post from FyreStorm talking about how most cops are pretty good people. So are most citizens.)

Also, I was speaking of smoked, yet fully bright, tail lights.

BTW: In your original post, you DID say "If police can't see in, must mean you are hiding something." In your more recent post, you say that's NOT what you're saying. I kind of wish you hadn't expressed it quite so strongly in the original post.

A couple of bad apples don't spoil the whole barrel.

So two highway traffic acts? One for law abiders and one for law breakers? The law has to be the same for everyone and that's the same relating my earlier comment about good cops and bad cops, we all have to follow the same rules.

BTW: In your original post, you DID say "If police can't see in, must mean you are hiding something." In your more recent post, you say that's NOT what you're saying. I kind of wish you hadn't expressed it quite so strongly in the original post.

Yes I did mispeak...what I should have said was when you see these 'I could be welding in here and you wouldn't know it" windows an officer's likely thought process is 'I wonder what this driver COULD be hiding', although we know the majority aren't, every vehicle has the POTENTIAL to be one of those unlicenced / uninsured drivers, repeat drunk drivers etc...my apologies...

Having said that, if your windows are dark, you ARE hiding your identity...

BTW The MTO recently sent us a suspended driver's database that indicates 7,000 suspended drivers in our jurisdiction...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/ ... rs613.html

Shows that 267,000 drivers are suspended in Ontario...I'm betting based on years and years of experience that a good portion of those are people with tinted windows, how else do you not get seen driving by the very officers who had your licence suspended?