sortudo7

So I'm still kinda pissed off about getting pulled over last night. I asked my gf since her sis is a cop and her ex bf and confirmed they do have quotas so I KNOW that's why I got pulled over. Unfortunately her sis is for Ffx cnty and I got tagged by the asshole State Trooper so don't think she can help me out.

I was driving down Braddock Rd at 10PM in the rain after picking her up from her house and driving back to mine for the night. I see this cop ZOOMMMIINNNN in and out of traffic (prob around 60mph). I was doing 45mpg (the speed limit) and see him run up on my ass for a bit and I'm like "oh well, I'm not speeding" and then he goes to pass me. Upon pulling to the side I see him slam on his brakes, pull behind me and light me up . The cop gets out and does the thumb print on my car (usual procedure) and comes to the passenger side. I got my window down and he says he's pulling me over for illegal tint!!!! I wasn't speeding, OEM rims on, license plates on, tags up to date, no tickets for 5+ yrs. Clean record AND I just got my insurance in my name. My car is only lowered and with the tint right now since I'm in winter mode. He takes out his meter, measures the passenger tint and it's 33%. He tickets me just for that since he got nothing else to get me with.

I was wondering, to those with experience in this what did you do about it? I don't plan on paying the fee tbh (only $95). It's principle moreso than the cost of the fine. I'm going to court in April, that's for sure. I remember reading somewhere that it's not even an offense they're allowed to pull me over for unless I'm doing something else like speeding (could be wrong or for a diff state) but I didn't find anything on it now. This is the statue for it in VA: LIS > Code of Virginia > 46.2-1052 Can anyone help with that or anything I could use in defense? I have 35% all around (50% is legal front) and I really hate %50 being legal, just looks pointless. I know it's an issue of being illegal too, just never heard of being pulled over only for tint (esp just 35%) and getting ticketed. I've always seen that it's an add on ticket like having too much stuff hanging from your rearview mirror etc.

My gf is a freakin pro at getting out of tickets, prolly bc she's pretty and knows all the loopholes lol. She asked him straight up how he knew it was illegal tint and he admittingly didn't know and just pulled me over to check it (straight bullsh*t), he literally just shrugged when she asked. Then she asked does he normally do this and he said "nope". Pretty much all leading to meeting a quota in my mind. The fact that he just seemed so unsure of this and that just really peeved me off. I've been driving with the tint for over a yr and this is my first time getting any grief over it. The ticket had it listed for 32% too (I didn't want to question him and risk more issues), he listed the weather as clear when it was clearly raining outside too.

Anyone got any help for me or info I can use? I've been pulled over for other stuff but always let off since I had a clean record and they never had a reason. It's just the car attracting attention...pretty angering. I think it's the same thing here since I was even passed by someone speeding and everything.

(I know the tint is illegal and don't need to hear then change it etc. Just want to know if anyone has had experience and how they dealt with it. Thanks.)

j1n

iTrader: (1)

Ger used to it or get it changed.

i have the same % as you on my front windows... darker in the back and rear.

im about to change it to 50% cause ive gotten ALOT of ticket for them. yes i have been pulled over just for tints 2 times and a couple more for speeding and threw the tint ticket on top.

i have court in two weeks for wreckless driving (was doing 86 in a 65 on I-95 south and 1AM). no cars on the road and wasnt paying attention to my speed. got to change it to 50% before my court date so the judge doesnt get mad and give me a big ass fine.

oh and btw almost ALL of my tickets have been in fairfax county. ive gotten pulled over a couple times but got warnings for them in other counties. i almost got a J walking ticket from a cop in fairfax and i was just crossing the street by my office. cop said he was being nice and gave me a warning.... lol

MeThane

I got pulled over the night before the Annual Mega meet we just had recently .
And I Got 20% all around mine , and the State trooper pulled me over , and put his scanner on it and it read as 13% . I Got off with a Warning (Thank god ) , But , the only thing that could help you out is the 7% Lee way on there scanners .
But in your, case and even mine it doesn't really help. =/

Tishkevich

iTrader: (3)

A cop can not pull you over in any state and write you a ticket for that unless you had a moving violation. He can write you a citation if your car is in a parking lot and he sees it. But that's ridiculous. The cost vs benefit ratio of being pulled over, is justified by the fact that you'd doing something that is impeding traffic from flowing safely.. I.E. Speeding, Running a stop sign, Running a red light, Failure to signal, Following to closely, and various other moving violations. For him to pull you over for this I would call shenanigans are court.. cause he put his and your life at risk by having you pull over on the side of the road while traffic was flowing at 45 mph past you. When you were doing nothing that could possibly justify that being safer then way you were driving. Unfortunately They might drop the fine, but you will still have to get your tint removed.

sortudo7

Thanks for the replies. I was really heated about being profiled for it but realize it is still illegal and will change it to 50% before court...eventhough it does little to nothing and looks bad, but it's better than no tint to begin with.

I'm def going to hold my own in court and question his logic behind it but I'm sure no one will give a crap lol. I'll update this if I remem and hopefully give some tips to anyone dealing with this in the future.

sortudo7

Well I got pulled over and ticketed again for the tint on Friday the 29th. Just changed it to legal tint this afternoon though. I swear the cops have 0 reasons to bother me now! But yea, 2 tickets for illegal tint only in 1 week...crazy week :[

D'sNBP

I'm not up to par yet on VA laws but if you're going to fight it (the first one) about the weather and all, use the weather almanac to prove he was wrong about the weather. With him saying it's clear that day gives him more justification or probable cause to pull you over for the tint. Everyone knows that when it rains it makes your tint look darker than what it already is.

1995hoo

See bolded sentence. Any post that says this sort of thing is usually bad advice. Unless you're prepared to offer a citation to the relevant statutes, don't give people that sort of "opinion" advice if they have a real issue to be addressed.

death

Go to court, show proof that you fixed it and both tickets will be dropped. I went through this a couple years back right before I swapped out my Apexi exhaust. Fairfax cop pulled me over on my way to a friends shop to take the last mod off my car. I went to court and showed proof that my exhaust was now stock and the fine was dropped.

sortudo7

Yea I got the tint removed and is legal now. The shop gave me copies of the receipts of removal just for the court to show em and hopefully they drop it. Just depends on my judge since the 2nd cop even warned me that it may not be dropped and is up to the judge even if it is now legal since it was at illegal tint anyways. Gotta love the hassle lol.

death

Both tickets are "fix it" tickets. Nothing less, nothing more. If it were a moving violation it would be a different story. Sounds like you have adequate proof which you'll need to show to the judge.

If you want to circumvent the entire court process you can simply meet with the officer, show proof that you fixed it and they will drop the ticket/s.

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

so you have illegal tint and you got a ticket for it...whats there to cry about.

sortudo7

^ Congrats on failing to read the OP.

kingjagg5

I get a tint ticket every two months. Apparently about two years ago they changed the rule to where they DO NOT need a moving violation to give you a ticket. They can just call the tint the primary offense. I have about 14 tint tickets. I have tried every defense. The only thing you can do to not get a tint ticket is have a doctor's note. They will just look at the note and let you go. Here in VA they are very anal about the tint thing. They also do not like "illegal" exhaust. I know you already took the tint off but this may help someone else.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

I"m surprised he gave 35% a second look, I have 35% all around and tint's way more illegal here, and I've been followed by cops a million times, and used to drive through a police monitored school zone (double fines) every day right past cops with my tint and tinted tail lights, and I never got a second look. However, quota or not, you got hit for having darker than legal tint, I doubt there's much you can do to fight it. Pay the fine, and hope you don't get hit again. That's my advice

Dktran31

I have 35% tint all around on my TSX and I live in Arlington, I got pulled over by a Arlington cop once for not having my front license plate on, when he pulled me over, he also checked my tint and his meter said 32% on the front. He let me go for both things with just a warning. Like the others have said, I don't think they can pull you over unless you performed a moving violation. He was just trying to meet his quota, I'm pretty sure you have a good chance of winning if you take it to court but I don't know how much money/time your willing to spend.

-On a second note, my friend has 20% all around tint on his IS-250. He lives in Woodbridge and I think he's gotten 25+ tickets but ended up only paying for 3-4 of them.
What he did was take a picture of his car before he got it tinted, then after receiving a ticket, he would mail a letter along with thoose pics to whoever and most of the time he got the tickets dropped.

sortudo7

Well apparently they're able to pull you over now just for tint I hear, I'll be sure to ask when I go to court for my first ticket on the 24th. I already had it changed to the legal 50% with proof of changing it from the shop. Both cops said I HAVE to go to court and show them proof regarding the ticket and they said it's only up to the judge on whether they want to drop it or not which really sucks for me. I have a clean driving record though, about 4 yrs with not tickets at all, +2.

So I have court 3/24 and 4/14. I had called the cops about a month or so ago just to check and make sure since my gf's sis said that'd be a good idea since they could drop it. Guess they really want these tint tickets on their record

I know I was just profiled and everything which is to be expected I suppose with driving a lowered car, rims, etc etc. I NEVER had any issues with my tint whatsoever, even got pulled over a couple of times for unrelated/unticketed offenses and cops never cared. Guess my time was just up :[ I hate the legal tint soooo much, it just looks hideous lol.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Yep, if you show that you got your tint changed, they will drop it. In PA they can pull you over just for tint, in my area there's a "Tint Task Force" that was featured on the news, they drive up and down main roads and look for people with dark tint. Hence why I have 35%

sortudo7

^ That's insane that you have an actual task force for it rofl.

2nd ticket I got in PWC was dismissed since I just showed the receipt that it was changed. Something that the cop shoulda been able to do since the judge was like "officer, does it look good?" and he goes "yup" and the judge dismissed it. Wasted a good 3 hours of my life for that. Next court date 4/14, lets hope it gets the same results!

Gen7Milan

iTrader: (1)

What I have always failed to understand is the reasoning behind window tint tickets. A cop will argue that it's for their safety. Someone could be holding a gun to the window and wait for the cop to show and blow his head off. Sure, I got that, I'd hate to hear about some cop getting blown away because he couldn't see a gangbanger hold a weapon to the window.

Now, how does that apply to anyone with light tints? How does that apply to anyone who rolls their windows down after getting pulled over? Say that a cop pulls over a minivan (not for tint) that have pretty much limo-level tint on all but the front windows. Is the officer any safer because a minivan doesn't have front tints? There could be four gangbangers with Uzi's and .45s that could just as easily blow the cop away.

Anyway, I'm rambling but the whole BS about betting pulled over for tints pisses me off. I don't even have tints! One of the reasons I don't is because of threads like this. Next time I'm getting my glasses I'm going to ask the optometrist for a note because I'm sensitive to the bright sunlight.

win2k8

Whats a good Virginia legal percentage that would look good on a 09 TSX Grigio/Ebony?

Thanks,

win2k8

sortudo7

Legal is 50% F and 35% R. I think tint looks stupid when it's different shades (how mine is now :[) I would do 35% all around, which is what I had, but again you risk getting a ticket.

Best LEGAL amount would be 50% all around but that is so minimal, I don't think it's worth the cost. It will look uniform and at least be tinted but isn't a huge difference from regular windows since they glass comes pretreated from the manufacturer. You can prob get away with approx 40-45% all around.

WluvC0124

Definitely thinking about changing mines. I have 20% all around and haven't had any problems.

50% is dumb. There is no point for tints anymore...

msmall

Just got pulle dover Friday night with my wife in the car. Got a White Infiniti M35 Sport with 10% tint all around. Cop just said he didn't have time and let me go

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

i have 35% and no front plate...been lucky so far..

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Lucky.

My Prelude had 18% all around and got two tickets for it. I went legal with the CL - 50% up front and 35% in the back.

lsantana954

This is exactly why i cant stand this POS state(va). These troopers have nothing else better to do then to pull people over for some dam tint? Before being stationed here all my cars have had limo tint and of all hte places ive visited i never got pulled over for such foolishness. Now im stationed in the sh*t hole of a state and cant wait to get stationed else where.
My GN came with 35% all around then i put 20% on top of that so two layers. Last time i got pulled over the dam trooper had me peel the tint off the front windows, i pealed the first layer off(20%) and he then rechecked it and he wasnt satisfied so he made me peal the bottom layer as well right there on site and ended up giving me a ticket for no insurance, which was eventually thrown out at court. So now the car has teh dual layers all around except the doors which im planning on blacking out any dam way being that the GN is mostly a weekend car.
Now with the TL i went with the legal tint which i hate cause i thought the 50% would be darker than expected but oh well. Another thing that ive noticed is that the local cops have never given me any trouble its alwasys been the troopers. By the way all my vehicles are registred in florida so i have been able to take most of my tint tickets to court and had them thrown out just by telling them i dont live in va

VQPower37

take a pic of a car that looks like yours with no tint ... go to court in a different car, get tickets dropped

AcUrAge703

photoshop is your friend...and also check to see if you got old pics of your car....take them to court and show it to the cop all charges dropped...worked for me...

Got pulled over and asshole cop gave me...loud exhaust, illegal tint, no front license plate, and no proof of insurance...all dismissed...oooh he was mad...lol..

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

I wish it was that easy here in Maryland. I have to go get a physical inspection and have an officer sign off on it that i remover the front driver/passanger tint.

I was planning on asking a member who doesen't have tint to switch plates and and just let me drive that car up there and do the inspection. LOL But i don't think anybody would want to do that.

lsantana954

Yea im def doing this

CJ0920

Not to mention they will probably check the VIN...

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

Yeah I though about that, but I heard that there's a place in laurel MD that signs off on the paper work the cop hands out when you get stopped without inspecting the car. I don't know how true it is, but I'm gonna try to find out and let you guys know.

YeuEmMaiMai

accidently clicked on the wrong forum but I have to ask

since you stated "(I know the tint is illegal.." why are you complaining about it? Hard economic times and yes they are looking for money and one way they can get it is by.....you guessed it.......enforcing the laws.

you got 2 choices

1. fix it

or

2. run with it and hope you don't get more tickets...