Got a ticket from ISP yesterday for "obstructed windows" under 625 ILCS 12-503A....The trooper told me "NO TINT IS ALLOWED AT ALL." (I got my front windows tinted to match the factory rear tint 4 years ago...Never been stopped for it, infact havent been pulled over in 15 years....Never had a ticket...)

I was a Deputy Sheriff for 4 years before my current FD job....I know most of the local officers, cept for a few new young guys and troopers who have transfered down here from other districts...I was stopped by one of the troops that I dont know.....While stopped I called one of my trooper friends, and he called the troop that has me stopped....He refused to cut me a warning since he had "half the ticket filled out already"...So much for professional courtesy....My buddy informed me that the law had recently changed to ALLOW window tint, but he didnt fully understand it....

After I signed my ticket and went on my way, another trooer friend from a different ISP district called and said that under House Bill 3325, window tinting WAS NOW ALLOWED, and that troppers had received memos regarding this last week....So off I went on research.....

My first stop was here: http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/Bill...ionID=76&GA=96

House and Senate ammendents Nos. 1 both say "a person may drive a motor vehicle with a nonreflective material tinted film that does not allow less than 50% light transmittance (or less than 35% light transmittance if the windows to the rear of the driver already have certain window treatment applied) upon the side windows immediately adjacent to each side of the driver."

My jr college abilities of comprehension tell me this means we can have up to 35% tint on our front windows.....So I ask a few more officers that I know, and got mixed interpretations....Mostly because the law was just effective on October 30th...They simply didnt know because they hadnt seen it yet.....

So today I go to the States Attorneys office to ask if I can get the ticket dismissed...The trooper that I had called while I was stopped was ACTUALLY IN THE S/A's office when I went in, along with another deputy I had worked with... ...Donna at the S/A's office told me that despite the new changes to the law, I still had to get a doctors prescription, then apply for a tint permit through the Sec. of State, and then apply a "WT" sticker to my license plates....I showed her a copy of HB3325, and the 2 officers also explained to her that it had changed, but she maintained that EVEN THOUGH HB3325 CLEARLY SAYS NOTHING ABOUT A PERMIT, I STILL HAD TO HAVE A PERMIT AND STICKER....She said she wasnt going to do anything with it, and I should plead not guilty and ask for a bench trial......

So I left her office and went down the the Sheriff's Dept....One of the deputies got online and began digging around....He couldnt find anything, anywhere, within the new law that requires a prescription of permit....He also called a SoS investigator, who said the new law was so convoluted, that the SoS officers dont even know yet how to enforce it....

So back to research I go, planning to plead not guilty and hopefully get this dismissed in court under HB3325....The trooper DID NOT measure the degree of tint, so Im hoping that will help too....

The full text of the law is here....You can see how weird it reads, and why nobody understands it....

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publ...ID=10&Session=


Weigh in on how you understand it and maybe I can get another point or two on how to get it dropped...Thanx...


EDIT TO ADD:

This is my loose interpretation of the new law....

12-503(a) No tint is allowed on the windshield except a 6" strip across the top of the window

12-503(a-5)(1) If no rear windows are darker than 30%, you can add 50% tint to the front windows....

12-503(a-5)(2) If no rear windows are darker than 35%, you can add 35% to the fronts...

12-503(a-5)(3) OF PARTICULAR INTEREST: Says FACTORY tint on the fronts is allowed for vehicle falling under definition 1‑148.3b...The definition is: "Multipurpose passenger vehicle. A motor vehicle with motive power, except a trailer, designed to carry 10 persons or less that is constructed either on a truck chassis or with special features for occasional off‑road operation." WTH does that mean??

12-503(b) This one really doesnt make sense, but skipping through the crap, this one says if you have the rear windws tinted, you must have outside mirrors...

12-503(f) Says this statutes doesnt apply to vehicle older than 1982

12-503(g) Says this act doesnt apply to people with prescriptions from a doctor which and the SoS permit for tint..(Im guessing they can go dark as the like and not have to adhere to the percentages)


My head hurts now, it really doesnt make sense....Stupid legislators

 

I'm in Illinois as well, and, to be honest, I FULLY support a no-tint law on side window tint. Come on, you were an officer. This is intened to help protect you. Who knows who is sitting behind a tinted window, and what they may have with them?

Point being, in this state, since it's not Georgia or Florida, there are only about 3 months where tinted side windows will make a differance. Otherwise, its not smart, and IMO it's telling me that you have something to hide. If you have a medical reson, that's one thing. Otherwise....

 

Or maybe they just don't like the sun their face,
Or headlights glaring in thru the side mirrors / rear view at night,
Or like they like looks of a car/truck with tint applied.
Or extreme sun hurts their vision and could cause a crash.

There's more than just 1 reason.

 

Yes agree about officer safety...But heres the catch....You can have 95% blacked out on the rears, and its ok?? From an officer safety standpoint, thats obviously a problem....But the legislators arent considering officer safety here.....They are considering driver safety, as in the ability to see and identify traffic, etc around them....They do however try to eliminate the total blackouts by saying nothing more than 30% is allowed...Its just so convoluted how its written....Nobody understands it yet...The old law was clear....This one isnt so much...

 

I would just hit them with the law that was in place when you were stopped.
Seems clear enough to me.

30/35 percent is not very dark though, I would verify what I had before I went to the Judge, and make sure I was in compliance.

 

I agree, I would also mention that the officer did not measure the window tint.

 

Also not to mention that it was the tint in my truck that kept a passing rock, thrown up by a passing truck from entering into my lap, along with the entire window, while I was not wearing sunglasses (glass splinters). At least Texas allows for tint as long as you have the little sticker that says its within the 35% blockage amount. Guess with our new regimes in office, we'll all be wearing cloth diapers riding tricycles...... (cloth diapers are green) lolol

 

All my vehicles get 5%! You dont need to see in mine and I dont need to see in yours!

 

And officer friendly lights you up.

Tell me you at least have the common courtesy to roll it down and have your hands at 10 and 2 before he walks up?

 

Speaking from experience, that would be the first mistake. I never ever approached the vehicle. I always had the driver exit the vehicle with hands in plain view.

I personally like dark windows, and for the reason it was invented, keeping the sun out. However I havent ran 5% in quite a few years, I usually have it done in 20% on all windows with the exception of the windshield, well save for a nice brow that is.

 

Yes I agree that 95% rear window tint is a real problem for an officer!

Didn't know it could be so dark.

We have a security guard at our plant who keep his Florida plates on his white Focus that has all side windows at 75% tint. His rear window is 95%. He really ought to remove it, (at least take it to 10% or so on the side windows) and he knows it. Just won't do it.

 

LEO told me to tint my windows are dark as I could.......he said it was one of the best ways to prevent theft.

 

what the big deal with tint.......i could easily be have a gun in my lap when a cop walked up to my vehicle.......tint or not.

 

Hence the reason for car shut off and window down, hands at 10 and 2.

It is already a stressful situation, why compound it by not being courteous?

 

i agree but im just curious about people saying no tint is for the patrolmans safety thats all.