My son in law got pulled over last Friday and ticketed for having "illegal window tint" on a truck he has had for 4 years. Then he gets pulled over again this morning taking his kids to school and getsmpulled over and ticketed for lenses on his backlights. He was again warned about the dark tint. My brother just bought a brand new suburban and had limo tint all around except for front passenger and drivers side doors. What is the law regarding this? And why would some officer pull him over and he's had this truck for 4 years?

Find out where he had the tint done. When I bought my new Honda, they threw in the tint for free and repeatedly noted that it was "the legal tint." Its possible the business that did his just made a dumb mistake. But yeah the police take that very seriously.

The law changed a year or two ago on front window tint. Supposed to be flagged at inspection.

That said, rear window tinting is allowed to be much darker.

But these windows have been tinted for 4 years. This isn't the first time he's ever seen or drove by a cop . Why all of a sudden he gets stopped twice within a week?

It's just the rear and back passenger side windows that are the darkest. It's a double cab dodge truck.

I've gotten a ticket from DPS for illegal tint on my front window. I had had the car about 2 years prior to being pulled over. There are tint and reflective standards. Here is a link:

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/VI/ConsumerInfo/windowTint.htm

Another site that explains it well -
http://www.tintcenter.com/laws/TX/

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Why all of a sudden he gets stopped twice within a week?

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Law of averages.

Odds are your son-in-law knew exactly how dark his front two windows are and just thought he was in the clear since he hadn't yet been cited for it. All tint dealers issue receipts for work completed, and most mark their work with something denoting the percent of tint.

I believe the darkest allowed on front windows in TX is 25 percent, and unlimited for the rest of the vehicle. The darkest I've ever had on a vehicle was 20 percent on the front and 15 percent on top of the rest of the SUV's windows. Did I ever receive a ticket for illegal tint? Heck no. However, its usually the folks who have the cheap, reflective tint or have between 5 and 15 percent on the front windows that receive citations.

Ticketing for "tint too dark" is BS in my book. However, your son-in-law is a moron for covering his back tailights covered in smoked plastic. He may think it looks cool, but it's illegal in every state and he'd be better off just hanging a sign on the back of his car that reads "please rear-end me". If anyone ever does hit him from the rear while those covers are on the lights, he's automatically at fault. Glad to see officers are finally ticketing for this offense.

[This message has been edited by Fletch_F_Fletch (edited 9/18/2012 2:35p).]

Front windows is 25%

Front windows is approx 18% but no one makes it so 25 is the norm. You could literally use black spray paint on every window in your truck (minus the front sides and windshield) and still be legal.

Now the lens covers is a different animal.

They check mine every year when I get my truck inspected. Did the leo actually test your son's tint in the field?

Newbomb is correct. It's 25 percent on the front. Earlier post edited.

Let me clarify myself, the front passenger and driver windows are tinted but you van see in. It was the rest of the windows he was told about. And if the dark lenses are illegal why do they sell them? And my son in law is not a moron. He is a very responsible husband, father , and business owner.

They sell marijuana but it's not legal.

Plenty of vehicle accessories are sold with the disclaimer "not for highway use" or "may not be street legal in all areas, check your local laws"

...and those items are just fine for show cars and other vehicles that will never see use on public roadways.

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Let me clarify myself, the front passenger and driver windows are tinted but you van see in. It was the rest of the windows he was told about. And if the dark lenses are illegal why do they sell them? And my son in law is not a moron. He is a very responsible husband, father , and business owner.

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I have always heard that headlight covers are legal in daylight. But, apparently they are not.

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Any device that impairs the required effectiveness of headlamps, tail lamps, reflectors, etc is prohibited. The lights, both front and rear, are made by the manufacturer to meet this safety standard. An alternate or additional material, particularly something dark, would impair its effectiveness. Additional information on lighting can be found in the Texas Transportation Code, Chapter 547, Subchapters D & E.

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http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/RSD/VI/lighting.htm

Perhaps enforcement has been lacking.

The site DPS explains that some vehicles are exempt like limos. It comes down to personal responsibility. Maybe the place that installed it will give him a discount to redo it.

The officer doesn't know how long he has had the tint or the truck.

Everything behind the B-pillar can be as dark as you want. B-pillar forward has to be 25% or lighter. The eyebrow on the windshield has to be 25% or lighter and can't be below the AS-1 line or more than 5" long (which ever comes first). TC547.613

No amount of tinting is allowed on the tail lights or head lights or turn signals. That's under TC 547.3212 which references 49CFR571.108. Paragraph S5.1.3 in that federal statute sums up the very long document that says no tinting on the lighting (never mind that smoked lenses and tinted lenses is stupidly dangerous).

The problem is that this law is enforced with no consistency. You get pulled over in Bryan but never in College Station or vice versa?

DB -

What is a B pillar??? My Tahoe is tinted all around. It even has a cutesy little tinted window in the license cover. Did Chevy do something wrong?

--
A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left. - Marily Monroe

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The problem is that this law is enforced with no consistency. You get pulled over in Bryan but never in College Station or vice versa?

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Different departments have different focuses and those are typically driven by problems encountered by that department. If a department sees problems with a certain kind of illegal modification causing accidents (liked tinted lighting), they might enforce that more than another agency who doesn't see the same problems.

If you have a few days to kill, sit down and read the Texas Transportation Code. Then read the Penal Code and when you're done read the Code of Criminal Procedure. I did that when I was a sophomore in college (no, not studying CJ, a cadet majoring in Bonfire, The Corps and beer) and was surprised by what I learned.

If you haven't at least read the Penal Code and the Transportation Code then you're missing out on what you NEED to know in regards to the laws that apply to your daily life.

The B pillars are the supports that the front doors close against.

I've had the same 10 percent on my 95 escort for 4 years and haven't been pulled over. I agree that window tint laws are BS I dont want anyone being able to see whats in my car, however tinted tail lights extremely dangerous. There is a shop in Hearne across from the old walmart that will still do less than 25 percent. Take cash and ask for Jesse.

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I agree that window tint laws are BS I dont want anyone being able to see whats in my car,

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You have obviously never walked up on a car at 3am that matched the description for a violent offense...

DB, I guess I'm not understanding what your referencing. I'm just saying with thefts on the rise I don't want anyone to look inside my car and be tempting to steal anything. Thiefs really piss me off when I work hard for my things.

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DB, I guess I'm not understanding what your referencing. I'm just saying with thefts on the rise I don't want anyone to look inside my car and be tempting to steal anything. Thiefs really piss me off when I work hard for my things.

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My point is it is an officer safety issue.

Contact your local agency of choice and see about doing a ride along during the night. You'll get it after that.

If you're worried about things being stolen out of your vehicle and you think tint will prevent that, you're horribly mistaken.

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Contact your local agency of choice and see about doing a ride along during the night. You'll get it after that.

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I have lived here all my life and never knew you could do a ride along, I now see your point. Thanks for the info

Feel free to tell me if this is a dumb question...but:

Why on earth would anyone want to use a lens cover to make their tailights or headlights less visible?

My husband and all his friends who ride motorcycles practically stay up nights figuring out how to make their lights even more visible.

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Feel free to tell me if this is a dumb question...but:

Why on earth would anyone want to use a lens cover to make their tailights or headlights less visible?

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Not a dumb question.

The only answer I've heard is "it looks cool."

The pillars on a car.
The first set framing the windshield are the "A" pillars.
The next set back (rear edge of driver door) are "B" pillars.
Set after that is "C" pillars, and so on.
Usually, only stretch/12 passenger vans or limos will have more pillars than "E" or so.

Edit: Ok, DBS encouraged me to go back and look; I was remembering the controversy down around Austin when the license frame rule first went into effect. I stand (or, rather, sit, here at my desk) corrected.

[This message has been edited by capn-mac (edited 9/18/2012 10:08p).]

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As to lens covers, they are the cheap way to get either a "blue" or "violet" effect for one's lights. And, sadly, there are plenty that "want" that will not spend--even if new lamps would be far, far simpler.

For some truck owners, though, there are covers that give the existing taillights a more flush, a more sporting, appearance. And, quite a few are really legal, since the automakers often oversize the taillights for stylistic reasons. But, not every LEO carries around measuring devices to verify that the legal exposure is there.

And, there are other statutes out there that are similar, but very different. Like the license frame law. you can put any sort of decorative frame on your license plate you want, it just cannot touch anything printed on the plate. It's written as a zero tolerance rule. But, it can get lost i nthe shuffle, what with having to know 8 or 9 thousand laws, rules, regulations, ordinances and the like.

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You're not really correct in your statements and may want to read the statutes yourself instead of taking the guys over in the automotive forum seriously.

For instance the LP frame law says that at least 50% of the text of "TEXAS" must be visible, your statement isn't correct.

Or you can believe what you want to believe, this is MyBCS so feel free to get angry about something.

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Feel free to tell me if this is a dumb question...but:

Why on earth would anyone want to use a lens cover to make their tailights or headlights less visible?

My husband and all his friends who ride motorcycles practically stay up nights figuring out how to make their lights even more visible.

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Like stated above, it's for show cars. The black ones complete the "black out" effect that matches black rims.

How does the officer know the percentage of the tint? Do they cut some of it off and send it to the crime lab? I just wouldn't accept his opinion without a valid non biased test.

The have a portable spectrometer that emits and then measures light on both sides of the glass to get the transparency.