Hey everyone, I'm moving to Ventura county on Oct 1st from Seattle. I have researched the window tint laws for Cali, its 70% on front doors (which is basically no tint) and the other windows can be as dark as you wish. My question is: I was just visiting Ventura last week and I saw lots of Benzys rolling around with tinted front side windows. Whats the deal? Do the cops just not care?

Any advice will be appreciated. My windows are currently not tinted, but I want to get it done very soon. Just don't want to be pulled over and harassed constantly.

Tony

All depends on the cop. CHP sometimes tend to be most aggressive. If you get pulled over for speeding or another infraction, they will usually hit you for the tint. Normally cops don't pull you over just for the tint alone. But it does give them an excuse to do so. Ticket is a fix-it ticket.

In NJ it's illegal to have any tints in the front. That doesn't stop anyone though. The ticket here is like $54, most just pay it and move on..

I was pulled over by LAX. The cop asked me to roll up my window. He looked at my tint and said it's not bad and let me go. Was pulled over for driving without my headlights on. Got lucky on that one.

Generally if you don't drive like an *** you won't be pulled over for tints.

Yep, and in Ventura, not much where you can drive swiftly. 101 on the coast is choke full of CHP, the 126 also. Nice area, just can't drive the the car as it should be.

I was thinking about this, If you get pulled over for speeding and have your front windows down and the cop asks you to roll them up can you tell him to kick rocks. I mean you didn't get pulled for tint so should he be able to ask you to roll your window up? Not trying to be an *** but why give him a chance if you don't have to.

How dark are they?

Figured it wasn't worth giving him a hard time for tint.

Medium

imo.........pretty much the same as no front license plate. they wont pull you over for it solely. unless....its really dark. in other words, if they feel threatened that someone could be pointing a gun at them and they wouldnt see it, then yes you'll get pulled over. lax police will also hit you up for no license plate. especially if you leave it in a lot overnight. i know because it happened to my r350.

Cat n' Mouse, treat CHP w/ respect & you'll be surprised what they let go... On other hand I got wrote up twice in previous C6 Vette w/all round tint, been warned once in SL & previous S class I (got full ticket & 3-4 po-po on me like flies on *****, I basically told 'em don't you have better things to do?)

They do hassle people in the LA area. The LAPD has "tint days" where they pull over all cars with tint. My brother got pulled over in a Bentley for having 35% tint and written up to have it removed during one of these tint days. When I drive my SUV, I always roll down the windows when I see a cop. That is why I'm not getting tint on my SL - I'd rather have the peace of mind then worry about these guys who seem to have nothing better to do than write BS tickets to generate some revenue in this economy

+1 I too drop the windows when my bat radar for po-po goes off..

Been pulled over once for tint, but luckily I have a doctor who wrote me a prescription saying I need the tint to protect my sensitive eyes

you just made my day

my opthomoligist is very cool, said he could have "written me note" to keep the eye glasses restriction off my license (um, I need them to see , maybe it's not as bad as I think)

I wonder if this will fly in VA? Time for a visit.

IDK but I know in Arizona it works because my friend also has one and all his cars have very dark tint.

It's a hit or miss kind I of thing. Few yrs ago they pulled everyone over for tint. Now it all depends on cop's mood. I have tints on all my cars but they're not too dark. I did get ticketed couple of times but that won't stop me from having tints. I hate raw sun light hitting my skin inside the car.

YES it will work in VA, that is the only way to have tinted windows in VA lol.. my friend has 5% on his Vette and VA and hasn't had a ticket in years.

I'm 99% sure a medical letter does not make it OK to have tint on the front windows or windshield. They want you to use transparent film that blocks out UV rays - any shade is illegal

You are incorrect DJ. If you have a medical prescription than it is okay, but obviously not the front windshield.

Are you sure this applies to California?

No, I was speaking about Arizona. I am not sure what the laws are in Cali

Actually, I found this site which will tell you the laws state by state and it says California does not have a medical exemption.

http://www.tintcenter.com/laws/

That's my car... 5% in the back and I believe 18 or something like that in the front... I've only gotten 1 ticket from a local officer... I usually have very good luck with the local PD and CHP.. In my neighborhood alone I have 1 Motorcycle CHP officer who lives 3 houses down and a local PD directly next door to me... Aside from those 2 there are 5 other local PD officers within a 2 block radius so I very rarely get pulled over for tint... Ironically, my next door neighbor/officer has his front windows tinted too...

But, at the end of the day it's your luck and the mood of the officer you run into... I'm lucky to have a good relationship with law enforcement in my city so I get by... When I travel to Sac and the Bay area though, that's another story...

That's really cheap. In Hawaii, our tint ticket is $289 per window! However, we are allowed to have 35% vlt tint on all windows except the front. For SUVs and MPVHs, you can have 35% on the front doors, and whatever you want on the rest of the vehicle.