Arrrrgh!!!

I got pulled over today on the way to work. I made a right turn at a stop light (on red) and didn't exactly come to a stop. The other directions were on their left turns so no traffic was coming (should be a green turn arrow there darn it). The officer was behind me and immediately turns on his lights. I knew right away I was screwed and there was no warning because he was going to nail me for my tint.

I pulled over and stopped. He may have spent like 15 seconds in the car before coming over, makes me think he had already been calling in my tags before the turn. First thing he asks is do I know what I did wrong, and wants drivers license and insurance. After that he wasted no time what so ever about going after the tint. He got out the tool to measure and of course I was illegal.

MN state limit is 50%, I have 28% on and with factory tint the machine read out 22% (looks damn good too). I have a light interior (camel) so it's quite easy to see inside.

So I got a $142 fine for not stopping at a stop light (ok, I deserve that one). I also got another $142 fine for the window tint (he was in no mood to be nice). I asked him if I had to have it removed or if I could keep it on (explained to him I'm probably moving in 3 months to a state were it is legal). He said I could keep it on but might get pulled over again. I also asked if there was a way to keep the moving violation off my record. He asked if I had a ticket in the last year and I have had one in over 6 years. He said to call the hearing officer and most likely they would keep it from going on record.

Just really bites getting pulled over. Not to mention having to pay 284 in fines (impacts the car mod budget). I was very polite to him, I was really hoping to just get a warning on the tint.

 

ouch. that ticket cost most than the tint itself. i always thought they were 10 dollar fix it tickets like missing a plate or having a brake light out.

 

Thats crazy. I hate it when cops are like that. unreasonable....

 

he should have given you two warnings IMHO. your turn didn't affect anyone and the tint was just salt on a open wound. sorry bud.

 

For the sake of full disclosure, I am a police officer, and occasionally I write traffic tickets. My job assignment is not traffic or patrol, and I drive an unmarked car, so I only stop really serious traffic offenders.

I have tint on my personal car. I know it is illegal in my state, but it protects my camel interior, keeps the car cooler, provides more security, and quite frankly, looks better than the factory set up.

Having said that, if I get stopped or ticketed (it could happen) for the tinted windows, I do so with full knowledge that my windows are illegal.

How was this cop unreasonable? Sure he didn't have to write you a ticket, but he was certainly within his duty to do so. You said you were polite and you never mentioned him being impolite or unprofessional. He told you that you did not have to remove the tint, but also warned you that you could be cited again for it. You admit you ran the red light, so what is the issue here?

It sucks to get cited, I understand that, and tinted window tickets are chicken crap sometimes, but from a cop's perspective, it always raises the stakes when we can't fully see inside of a vehicle.

Hope you keep your car looking good and remember to "check your mirrors".

 

I didn't say there was an issue and there isn't one. I was just sharing the story. I knew the tint was illegal and my previous car was illegal as well (just not quite as dark). I didn't get pulled over in the 3 years I drove my previous car. Just the luck of the draw. It just sucks getting the ticket and puts a big downer on the day. He now knows that I don't plan on having it taken off so I just hope he is not on the lookout for me to ticket me again in the future.

 

^ - I agree.

Edit: With Code3forJC

And I think the unreasonable comment was directed at Franz

 

someone is uptight. everyone is intitled to their opinion.

 

isnt tint equipment ticket and i think its like 60$

 

I have been stopped more times than enough for tint .. I know full well its illegal and carries a $119 fine here but most officers will allow you 7 days to remove it ..

In a small town like where I like they don't bother me .. ( I'm 61 ) its when I go out of town .. I usuall come back and the fix it slip is written off ..

 

$60 for tint ticket, what state?

I check the card he gave me for ticket fees and the cost for illegal tint was 124 on it

 

I am usually REALLY good @ spotting police vehicles bc i ALWAYS check my mirrors and after a while get used to the cars I should be looking out for, especially in FL where they use a wide variety of unmarked units (Durangos, Jeeps, Explorers, Yukons, Mustangs, Camaros, the typical intrepids, impalas, crown vics, and even Ford Windstars...). But everyone slips every once in a while with so many cars to keep track of... In NYC, I'm used to looking out for Crown Vics, Impalas, and the new Dodge Chargers... so when I saw an unmarked CHRYSLER 300C I was like WTF! Those Chargers and 300's make NICE police units!

Anyway... back onto the original topic. I never get pulled over for tints (20% around) *knocks on wood* and I never understood how it's such a big deal for civilian vehicles to have dark tint, but many police vehicles are close to limo tint... which actually helps me ID them... so I can't really complain - just stating an observation.

 

Here's something I picked up from this great forum: If you ever get pulled over and don't want to get busted for front tints, just roll down both of your front windows.

 

lol ditto. I roll down all out of habit.

 

My guess is that the Officer had prior bad experience being shot at from a heavy tinted car. They really like to be able to clearly see the number, race and sex of all occupants, any less and any movement you make is considered going for the gun

We have had CHP shot on the side of the freeway here several times, if you got pulled over after one of those events- they were on extra high alert for danger.
Your age plays a big part in tickets too- the mods done to your car etc

 

Man, tell me about it... My dad thinks it's funny how we've both been pulled over a few times and he's never even been written a ticket. Meanwhile I got 2 in a timespan of like 3 months. In one instance, I was driving to work mid-day, and I have a trooper (FHP) on my ASS daring me to speed and I'm thinking - "This guy can't be serious if he thinks I'm gonna accelerate..." So I take my exit ramp (literally across the street from my job) - he pulls me over... I did nothing wrong so I wasn't worried... I simply lowered the windows and turned off the radio. He came up to the window and asked for my info... comes back 5 mins later and I say, "Did I do something wrong?" He responds with, "No, I just wanted to see what a 20 y/o was doing with an Acura TL and make sure the car wasn't stolen." I was like... "um ok - have a nice day!" But in my head I said "thanks for wasting 5 minutes of my life - 5 minutes i will NEVER get back!" lol I told my dad the story - he laughed and said "this is only the beginning..."

 

yhe in NY is 60$, i just get one, hmm i mean 7 tickets, the cop was an asshole, he gave me a sepret ticket for everything, i got 4 tickets for 4 windows(dont know y becouse back is ok to have tint on, whatever), one for frond windsheeld, one for tinted lights and one for tint on plate, 7 total
Good thing my biyz form my shop i do all upgrates write me a note that i took everything off, so the tickets will be dismissed......i hate cops...

 

when you say cops you mean pigs... just adding the correction there

 

wow.. thats really unreasonable. I just got tints put on my car. 20% gotta be careful now when driving by cops.

 

yeah, in/around DC, there are Chargers and 300s all over the place, so I've known for a while that you've gotta watch out... they are really nice, tho... it's just kind of annoying that there are that many more cars to watch out for now... In Maryland, the limit's 35% and you can tint all around... I'm gonna prolly end up with just 40%, tho- it's dark enough and gives me a little cussion over the limit... I don't need to draw even more attention to myself and give the po another reason to pull me over... I hate states where you can't tint your windows

 

You have a point and i agree with what you said. Please disregard my previous post.

Thanks.

 

I got pulled on a recent trip to Myrtle Beach as I was going through a fairly small town (about 6 stop lights) but on a main road. Speed limit changed from 45 to 35 and I missed it. I was going around 43MPH. Officer came up to the car expecting a kid and found a 44 year old guy. Asked me if I knew what I had done wrong and of course I said "nothing that I am aware of as I was traveling about the 45MPH speed limit". He then informed me that the limit was 35 and that in the future I need to "keep a better eye out". Then again my window tint is also legal in all states 35% so with the black interior it looks dark from a distance but once he got close he could tell it was legal without a tool. Just strikes me as odd that all you guys with ILLEGAL tint EXPECT to get a "pass" fron the uniformed officers. You KNEW you were illegal when you put it on, you KNOW you are running the risk by leaving it on. YOU are the one taking the chances. Another car forum I was on (Mercedes) had this young "spoiled rich kid" on there that got pulled and refused to remove it. Got pulled two days later and still refused, kept getting pulled (as by now the officers were looking for him to write him another one since he wasn't getting the message). Some people don't realize that DRIVING is a PRVILAGE, not a RIGHT. I think he dropped like $600 in tickets and finally "went legal" because he had no other alternative. All I could think was... he deserved it. Sounds like you were respectful but you may now want to reconsider your options before you too end up with 5 tickets for tint like he did.

 

buda,

My bad on the "what is the issue" remark.
I reread your original post and I can accept your explanation. I had read where my man Fraz had said the cop was unreasonable and I had that in mind as I wrote my first response.

For the record, most cops are car buffs and if you are honest that is the best way to not get a ticket. Explain why you have the windows tinted (security, protection from hot sunny climates, etc.) and you might get off. I typically don't cite for it because I have mine tinted.

As for cop cars and tints, See the above reasons. We have expensive "toys" in our cars and some of them don't do well in prolonged exposure to sunlight and heat. The undercover cars also need the privacy for surveillance.

I don't mean to be a hater, I love my TL and hope we all enjoy our cars without the added inconvenience of paying for tickets!

Peace!

 

[QUOTE=Buda]Arrrrgh!!!

I got pulled over today on the way to work. I

So just curious. A warning by a law enforcement is to tell you to correct a situation so as not to put yourself in the same situation again.
If the officer gave you a warning, would you have gone home, and removed the tints, or just figure everytime you are stopped you should get a warning.??
I dont give warnings on this situation, because 1) the owner of vehicle will never remove them on a warning. 2) I am protecting the next officer who might get into a situation with vehicle and I would be responsible for adding danger to his situation, and could possible be the cause of someone getting hurt or even killed .
What I do, is ask them to remove the tints immediately and put a "memo" in my pad, with plates and license number, in case this vehicle is stopped once again with tints.
Call me a hard ass, but put yourself in a police officers position once in a while.
MUch regards

 

You must not have any tint on your front doors.
In California no tint is legal on the front doors unless you have a medical exemption. Medical exemption allows for tint or other shading material is allowed on the front side doors if it allows at least 35% of the light to go through, readily is removable and cannot be used at night.

 

GO GO mn cops.

Most are bored around our suburban areas.

 

How dare he do his job and fine someone for breaking the law. What a jerk.

 

wow, I close one thread that you posted nonsense in and here you are not adding anything to this one.

 

I understand you were in a TL when this happened but that doesnt make for an on topic thread in 3G.

This belongs in Ramblings or Car Talk. Thanks