Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 20, 1993 TAG: 9307200028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I knew my decal wasn't bad," said Melvin, who asked that his last name not be used. "I knew my license wasn't bad. He stopped me for my tint."
Melvin and 68 other city drivers have received summonses in the past week as police crack down on those nearly invisible figures behind too-dark automobile windows.
City police are responding to a newly toughened state law that allows motorists to have front side windows that block only half the natural light. Back side windows must allow at least one-third of the light to shine through.
According to police, Melvin's windows were allowing only 6 percent of the natural sunlight into his mini-van.
Melvin's explanation is that he's a perfume salesman who had to keep the sun and thieves from his products. He said his van was broken into four times before he decided to have the windows tinted last month.
Police say too-dark windows are a danger to officers who can't see inside vehicles and to drivers who can't see out.
The change in state law, which went into effect July 1, required Roanoke police to go shopping for equipment to measure the tint on windows. This week, after a brief training session, officers started using $125 Tint Meters, electronic devices that slide across the top lip of the glass and reveal how much light is going through the tint.
Officers on patrol and those involved in road checks have been equipped with the Tint Meter.
Lt. Ramey Bower, who heads the Roanoke Police Department's traffic division, said the readings so far have shown that one car's window allowed no light to pass through. Another had only a 1 percent light flow.
Bower said the General Assembly moved to ban too-dark windows mainly because of the potential hazard to police officers, particularly at night.
"You get vehicles out there that you can't see into," he said.
Another factor in the legislature's decision, Bower said, was the impact that too-dark windows have on traffic safety.
"If you can't see in, I doubt you can see out," he said.
If convicted, violators could face a minimum $46 fine. Those who tint windows for a living also face potential misdemeanor charges under the statute if they make windows too dark.
Bower said some motorists have been known to go to an auto-parts store, purchase a tint and coat windows without knowing how much of the light flow is being blocked. Others go to installers who are willing to tint windows to illegal specifications.
Kevin Bingham of Auto Trim Design of Roanoke Inc., which offers free tint testing, said some auto-parts companies sell film that blocks out 65 percent of the natural light. Some motorists layer that film to block the light so that only 15 percent to 20 percent gets through.
"At night they just don't see, period," Bingham said. "They make it dangerous for themselves and everybody else. A lot of what police are seeing are home jobs."
Lt. W.S. Flaherty of the Virginia State Police in Richmond said he hopes the new law will streamline enforcement of the tinted-window statute.
Since 1987, state police have been attempting to develop uniform standards for sunshading materials used to tint windows.
Manufacturers were asked to present their products for lab tests to determine if the materials allowed enough light to pass through. If so, state police would allow it to be installed as long as a decal indicating it is acceptable material was also placed on the car between the tint and the window.
But some motorists forgot to put the decal on their windows, while some shady installers put the decals on cars with illegal materials.
State police asked the General Assembly to simply put a standard on all car tints. In June, state troopers were equipped with meters, Flaherty said.
"I hope it will result in removing a number of vehicles from the highway that have windows that are much too dark," Flaherty said.
Del. Watkins Abbitt, D-Appomattox, who sponsored the bill along with Sen. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, said the new law took some political arm twisting.
He said the legislature worked on the standards for three years before they were enacted into law.
The main point of contention was the percentage of light allowed into the cars. On that point, State Police and industry officials differed, Abbitt said.
"Nobody left the table completely happy," he said. "I guess that's a good compromise."
by CNB