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No, my windows aren't tinted. I didn't get a ticket either. My fiance on the other hand, just did. She's had her car (2000 Ford ZX2) for over three years. She bought it from a small dealership with some "do-it-yourself" tint on the side windows only...none even on the rear window. It was applied well, and so it still looks fine. It doesn't seem very dark to me...I always assumed it was right around 35%. And she's never had the tint mentioned by an officer, had a warning, nothing for over 3 years. And today some officer pulls her over on the highway, JUST to give her a ticket for her tint. He used his tint tester thingy, and said it was 17%. He didn't warn her, explain anything, nothing....just matter-of-fact gave her a ticket, even after she'd explained that she bought the car like this more than 3 years ago, and had never had a clue that it was too dark. So needless to say, she's upset, and so I am, because it just seems very rude and unfair for him to treat her like that.

Now the question is...because I've never dealt with this kind of thing....what do we do so that she doesn't have to pay for this bologna? Seriously, I'm taking the tint off next weekend, but there's no reason for her to get stuck with an expensive ticket for something this crappy.

just go to court with a picture with the car with the tint taken off. i got a ticket a month ago and have court next monday. all that i did was cut some plexi glass and rolled my window down and put the cut out piece where the window would be and took some pictures. and im just gonna show the judge.

^^^yeah im pretty sure thats really illegal and I wouldnt assume your judge is that dumb.


but anyways, there really isnt anything you can do about it except telling the judge the truth, you never know what could happen, dont make it sound like your trying to make excuses, but merely tell it like it is.......ps cops suck

find a tint shop that will say (in writing) that the tint is legal... even if its not
i'd rather pay a shop up to 40 bucks than paying 95 in court.

Is it a red zx2?

i'd fight it...most of the times the cops don't even show up...then your off the hook haha...if not just show them a pic of when you bought the car...hey it's worth a shot....

No, it's white. It's a really clean looking car, it has the 15" alloy wheels, and it's in great shape. Tan interior, 5 speed. Anyway, thanks for the comments. The ticket is $85....so she might just pay it. I thought it was going to be more than that.

Heh, my dad works for the local PD, he loves going to court. Makes time and a half when he goes.

That sucks about the ticket, i mean, even if it is only $85, but you feel like it's a injustice, do something about it. Just dont stand by and let the guy continue to get away with being a ass with other people. But thats just my 2 cents lol.

I come from a pretty hardcore law enforcment family, and not all cops are bad like some people think, and geniunely want to help you. But there are also quite a few power hungry assholes as well.

I'd do the direct opposite. I'd pay the ticket and leave the tint on. I'm doubting she'll get stopped again for it if she went 3 years before with no problems. I got picked up by a State Trooper a couple years ago and go cited for my tint. It never came off the window and I never got picked up for it again...

Funny question about "red cars" - I understand where you were going with it, but that 'fallacy' has now changed - the most popularly pulled over cars are no longer red, but white then black. The reason so many 'red cars' were 'targeted' was because so many sports cars were being manufactured by car companies in red. Not only that, but there are many shades of red, and most cars that were truely burgundy, or something else, were marked as red. not to mention that the most popular color being sold on the market was also red.
Think of it this way, if a city has 1,000,000 drivers, and those cars are broken down into color catogories of red, black, white and blue, and 40% are red, 30% are black, 20% are white, and 10% are blue, there is a 2 in 5 chance that a car being pulled over is red.

Quicksilvr: Sorry to hear about the ticket, that does suck. I will point out that some cops are in strict adherence to the law, and have NO mercy at all... some have plenty of mercy, and others just do not care either way. I cringe whenever I drive by a cop because of my dark tinted windows (20%), but know good and well, I can get a ticket, or worse, the cop deem the car not safe to drive, and impound it. I would go to court, plead your case, and hope the cop does not show up... worse case scenario, he shows up, you pay the fine.

Good luck!

Yours are 20%?! Now see, this upsets me....her's are not NEAR as dark as yours, like I said before, I always thought the tint was right around 35%. THis cop said it tested at 16%. There is no way in the world that her windows are actually 16%. I think I'm going to take the car to Lawhon Performance Glass in St. Joe and have them test it, and see what I get. Then we'll go from there. But just knowing that yours is 20% makes me realize that there is no way that cops little tester thing was accurate...

Also depends on the lighting situation, too... As far as comparing pictures go.

Right, but I've seen several pics of kc2002acr's car, and his tint is most definately darker than hers. Plus, the fact that the cop said 16%, and his is 20%....meaning his should be almost 5% lighter. I can't wait to see what the shop says...because if the cops measurement is off by quite a bit, that should be grounds getting the charge thrown out completely (i think).

16 and 17 are kinda odd numbers...

dblsg wrote:16 and 17 are kinda odd numbers...

The cop actually said 16...I said 17 in the first post by accident. So, yeah, why would there be 16% tint on it anyway? Doesn't make sense to me either. I honestly think it's 35% tint, and he measured wrong, or lied. My dad just put 35% on his truck, and my moms Concorde has 35% on it...they look exactly the same as my fiance's car. Only way to find out is to take it to the shop though, so I'm doing that next time I'm back in town.

here are the pictures im gonna bring to the judge to show him i got my tint off.





here are the before



i have friends who have gotten tickets for tint and they just took a picture of a car like theres without tint and got out of it. but just to be safe i just cut out plexiglass and put it in place
99% chance it will work.

Interesting idea, and it probably will work. Although, if I was the judge, you wouldn't get away with it....the reflections off the plexiglass are much more distorted and curved than what they would be off a real window. My current plan of action is to get the tint tested at a shop, if it's legal then I'll leave the tint on and take the shop's info to the judge. If it's too dark, I'll take the tint off and take pictures with the tint removed to the judge, saying we didn't know it was too dark and as soon as we found out, we removed it, and she should have been given a warning, instead of a ticket.

^^ Unless your pictures are post-dated before your ticket, I don't see how you can fight it? When the cop stopped you, you had tint. It doesn't matter what it looks like today. Good luck though.

my court date is the 10th, i am sure this will work. ill let you guys know.
maybe the judges in other places are more strict about it but here in illinois (cook county) all that people do is show the judge pictures and tell them the tint was taken off and judge drops the case. i have talked to 10 people who show a picture of a car like their's with no front tint and get out with no problems. i guess cook county judges dont car about the petty crap. for those who dont know cook county is the same county Chicago is located.

Knightryda wrote: i guess cook county judges dont car about the petty crap. for those who dont know cook county is the same county Chicago is located.

wish kane county was like that....

just to let you all know, i had court today for my tint ticket and showed the pictures i posted and got off the ticket. i told the judge they were taken off and showed her the pictures. like i said this should work 95 percent of the time so if anyone gets a ticket for tints and does not want to take the tint off try my technique.

thats wierd... when i got a speeding ticket the cop dinit show up and i still had to pay.. it wasnt set like real court either more like a checkout...lol

my friend had court 2 weeks ago for running a stop sign and the cop wasnt there and got off. just pled not guilty and the judge dismisses the case

he dinit ask if i was guilty or not it was like this i got a time and then when i got there there was like 50 people there and he asked a name and then you go up to there and you show the ticket and hell ask certian questions like got proof of insurance now and what not depending on ticket but for speeding all he said was do you wanna pay it or go to a class... lol