i was just thinkin about this today... wondering if anybody knew how this works.

i'm from PA, but living in SC right now for grad school. i just got my tint done (15%) a couple weeks ago. i'm not tooo worried about going back to PA every once in a while cuz the cops there never bothered me about the tint on my last car, which was even darker than this.

but here's my question... what happens if i get stopped here in SC? even though my car is registered in PA, with PA plates and everything, can cops in another state still give me a ticket for tint?

i'd just like to know how paranoid i need to be here... one of my friends here has been stopped twice here & they gave him $150 tickets both times. ick.

 

well being as hot as you are I'm sure you can sweet talk your way out of any ticket the cops there try to give you.

but on topic, yeah cops in another state CAN give you a ticket for anything that they have laws for in their state, BUT they most probably wont icf you give them some excuse about only being there temporarily.

 

if the tint is legal in the state you live in you have nothing to worry about, but if its illegal then you will get ticketed. hot or not

 

Good question. I'm in the same situation as you, school in one state and home in another.

 

So if I'm from Cali with illegal tint, a cop from DC can give me a ticket for having illegal tint even though it may be legal in DC?

 

If your level of tint is legal in DC, then the DC cop will not give you a ticket. He will not give a crap if it is illegal in Cali. However, if your level of tint is LEGAL in Cali, but ILLEGAL in DC, then the DC cop CAN give you a ticket.

If you get stopped in another state, they will ticket your tint if it does not comply with their laws. Yes, it sucks.

 

I live in PA, and the cops aren't bad about tint, but if your car is registered in another state, that states cops can most definately give you a ticket in their state, if you violate the tint law. But unless they get you for speeding or somethin, chances are they'll leave you alone.

 

What a blower

 

bottom line... if its legal in the state that your car is registered, then you can drive anywhere legally.

Full faith and credit clause.

article IV, section I

 

You can't be expected to abide by every states tint laws you drive through. Same thing as how some states require front plates, while others don't. If you could be pulled over for stuff like this it would be madness.

 

if your really hot them u should be able to get out of it.

 

in here or ramblings they posted al the tint laws in every state

 

35% and above is legal in Hawaii... So shitty...

 

Powderman and mclaren are wrong. Just because it is legal in your state does NOT mean you will be safe in another state.

Do some research.

 

oh goodness... this thread has made me more confused than i was to begin with!!
just to clarify a couple things...

- my tint is 15%, which means it's NOT legal in pennsylvania OR south carolina. my car is registered in PA and i'm currently living in SC. my question was, can SC cops give a ticket for tint on a car that's registered in another state??

- no, my "hotness" does not get me out of tickets... believe me, i know this from experience.

 

Those cops must've been gay or something.

 

Tell me where it says that then. I know plenty of people who don't get tickets in other states for things that are illegal there. Otherwise someone from PA would get tickets in NJ everytime for no front plate, yet I know people who were pulled over for this and let go because they were from PA.

 

okay this is the opening paragraph of the SC tint laws, as posted on tintshops.com...

"No person may operate a motor vehicle that is required to be registered in this State on any public highway, road, or street that has a sunscreen device on the windshield, the front side wings, and side windows adjacent to the right and left of the driver and windows to the rear of the driver that do not meet the requirements of this section."

sooo... since my car is not "required to be registered" in SC (since i'm just a student here) i should be okay right? that's the way i'd interpret this...

 

 

Yes, you're fine. They can definately mess with you in PA, but not many cops really look for that stuff. I know that in pittsburgh, there's only ONE cop who has the job of enforcing tint and mods to cars. Like I said b4, unless you get pulled over for speeding, or some other violation (noise perhaps) then they shouldn't have any grounds to even want to measure your tint.

 

Unfortunately, most people are wrong in this case (in reality, at least). There are out of state, etc. legalities that will get you out of most situations in a car, as there are those that will get you pulled over. But because you have been pulled over, you are open to a whole series of following questions, searches, etc. that will find you guilty, depending on the cop, of any number of infractions. And it depends on the type of car, the style of dress of the occupants, etc. I don't care if they say this is not the case, its a lie. I'm the average middleclass white guy who happens to drive regularly in a mix of stock to Ricer cars, as well as a Nissan Pathfinder SUV. Cops tend to use (and abuse) their authority depending the the circumstances.

 

ummm okay. but if the SC *law* says that the stuff about tint only applies if your car is required to be registered in SC... how could they legally give you a ticket if you're from out of state?? even if they did, you could easily fight it in court because their tint law does not apply to you if your car is registered in another state.

right??? unless i'm missing something major here..?

 

Mez, that should be right, however it's the law, and if they want to screw with you or take your money for something, they will. However, like I said unless you get pulled over for speeding or something, they don't really have any bearing to even mess with you about your tint. Also, you could fight it, if your car is registered in another state. You may have to prove that it's legal in that state, or at least that the tint work was done in that state.

 

Technically it all depends on the cop. I know a few cops and I have questioned them about tints and they have told me as long as they can see what is going on in the car they don't have a problem. I can only speak for Jersey cops though, but country South Cackalaka cops I have no idea..

 

You guys are quoting that law in correctly.

The phrase is "any vehicle that is (required to be registered) in this state." Not "any vehicle that is required to (be registered in this state)."

In other words the law applies to any vehicle that SC requires as a registerable vehicle. In others words bicycles, powerwheels, go-karts may not be required to be registered under the laws of SC but automobiles, RVs, and trucks definitely are. They are not saying they have to be registered IN SC but that SC requires certain types of vehicles to be registered SOMEWHERE.

There are literally DOZENS of websites dealing with tint laws. All of them agree that tint laws are enforceable for out-of-state vehicles UNLESS that state's laws SPECIFICALLY state that out of state vehicles are exempt.

For example Alaska tint law SPECIFICALLY states that out-of-state vehicles are exempt from enforcement. However California laws states that ALL CARS including out-of-state cars MUST COMPLY with California tint laws.

There are only TWO STATES that specifically exempt out of state cars, Alaska and Arkansas. Georgia used to exempt, but their supreme court said it was discrimination and the exemption was removed in 2004. Missouri also had an out-of-state exemption, but it was also removed. Virginia also tried to exempt out-of-state cars but the exemption was struck down there too.

Here is a list of states the SPECIFICALLY INCLUDE out of state cars (although as I've stated it isn't necessary to specifically include out of state cars, they added the language to make the law stronger against court challenges).

Cali
D.C.
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Iowa
Maine
Michigan
Missouri
NY
N.Carolina
N.Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Wisconsin

I'll say it one more time. The state law does NOT have to specifically include out-of-state cars. That is the default position. However as you can see many states purposely include language including out of state cars.

Of course in all of these states much of whether you get a ticket for tint (just like for everything else) depends on the mood of the cop who sees you.

-=-=-=-
EDIT: I don't know how old some of you guys are but some of you seem like you are youngsters; please don't try to interpret laws on your own using that kind of logic. Reading your "opinions" on how to read that law was somewhat painful.

 

Additional note. I just wanted to say that...

My car is registered in Texas, I live in Ohio, but I got it tinted in Michicgan since their tint laws are much more lax.

I have been almost ticketed for tint twice but both times I told the officer I was driving through Ohio to visit someone. I got off both times for the tint, but still got a speeding ticket.

Just be nice to police. It works wonders.

 

For the record, I drive a black 99 CL with 5% tint in Georgia, and I have two tickets for the tint already. In the first case, the cop and I were both in a parking lot and he followed me out and stopped me for the tint. My guess is he just wanted to see if he could find a reason to search the car.

The second time, I was speeding on I-75 and got out of the speeding ticket, but he had to be jackass and hit me for the tint. The first ticket was $75, the second, $65.

Lesson: Georgia cops will pull you over for anything, especially on the highways through the podunk counties where the county makes a larger percentage of it's income from the police department.

 

^wtf what an ass he followed you out.

 

I had a cop do a u-turn to follow me. Then I hit a stop sign and he was soon behind me. It was a busy street and as soon as I could get through, I went so I could leave him stuck there waiting for all the cars to go by. Then I pulled into a gas station and acted like I was gonna get gas. He pulls right in and waits for me on the side. I was like, "shit," so I decided to kill time by actually getting gas. I'm looking for my wallet and I don't even have it with me OR any cash. So I'm standing there acting like I'm doing stuff and he finaly leaves. That was freakin' close.

 

What a dick, how dark is your tint moto?

 

It was 20% (my old car). But I don't know if that's why he wanted to pull me over. I really don't know why really. Only thing I did was swerve out of the way of a pot hole.

 

 

Roll down your windows if you get pulled over. If they mention anything about tint just say your window is broken. They aren't allowed to roll them up for you.

 

SC is really bad about that, they pulled me over going through in my AZ registered car a few years ago and I had to talk hard to get out of a ticket, it was tinted pretty dark though

 

that wont work dude.

 

it depends where you live in SC about the tint. in upstate SC, it is not so bad. Im in charlotte NC and the cops dont even give a shit. in lancaster sc and york county, rock hill and such. the cops dont really care either. I know that SC does not have inspections so unless the cop that pulls you over has a specific tint darkness testing machine, then whatever ticket you get can be argued against.


most cops will leave a tinted car alone. They actually fear what's inside when they walk up after pulling someone over.

 

I learned that in business law class last week!! hEs so right!

 

I'm gonna have to quote that next time I get pulled over. I'll sound so smart!

 

Way to have an open mind. It actually HAS already worked for a friend of mine twice.

 

Wouldn't that just piss off the cop?