VA enforces VA tint law on MD car
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Topic: VA enforces VA tint law on MD car
Posted By: fnk1481
Subject: VA enforces VA tint law on MD car
Date Posted: 13 Jul 2010 at 5:19pm
I was pulled over by a VA state trooper who said he couldn't see if I had the required number of passengers in my car because my tint is too dark. I had 2 slugs in my car. My tint is 35%. 35% is not dark. My car is tagged and titled in MD. I have a MD address on my MD driver's license. I am a legal resident of MD. MD tint law allows us to tint our windows down to 35%. VA tint law allows you to tint your windows down to 50%. According to the cop, VA enforces its tint law on all cars in VA, even cars just driving through. I asked why. This is the analogy he replied with: the speed limit in MD is 55, but the speed limit in VA is 70, so when you get to MD, you abide by their speed limit. Stupid analogy. Changing your car's speed when you enter a different state is doable. Changing your tint when you enter a different state is not. Basically, the cop (and VA law) imply that their law trumps MD law. This isn't legal. This law isn't logical. IT ISN'T LOGICAL. If there is logic in this that I don't see, please reply. Please don't reply with your opinions. I don't care what your opinion is. I need logic. This law doesn't make any sense to me. Also, please don't reply with questions about my personal life, like why I was picking up slugs in VA. That's none of your business. I just need to know what is logical about this law. In the meantime, your Congressmen are going to get letters from me.
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Replies:
Posted By: mycroftt
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 10:28am
quote:
Originally posted by fnk1481
I was pulled over by a VA state trooper who said he couldn't see if I had the required number of passengers in my car because my tint is too dark. I had 2 slugs in my car. My tint is 35%. 35% is not dark. My car is tagged and titled in MD. I have a MD address on my MD driver's license. I am a legal resident of MD. MD tint law allows us to tint our windows down to 35%. VA tint law allows you to tint your windows down to 50%. According to the cop, VA enforces its tint law on all cars in VA, even cars just driving through. I asked why. This is the analogy he replied with: the speed limit in MD is 55, but the speed limit in VA is 70, so when you get to MD, you abide by their speed limit. Stupid analogy. Changing your car's speed when you enter a different state is doable. Changing your tint when you enter a different state is not. Basically, the cop (and VA law) imply that their law trumps MD law. This isn't legal. This law isn't logical. IT ISN'T LOGICAL. If there is logic in this that I don't see, please reply. Please don't reply with your opinions. I don't care what your opinion is. I need logic. This law doesn't make any sense to me. Also, please don't reply with questions about my personal life, like why I was picking up slugs in VA. That's none of your business. I just need to know what is logical about this law. In the meantime, your Congressmen are going to get letters from me.
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I don't think you are going to find a logical explanation. It's just a matter of how the law is written - in Virginia is applies to all vehicles operated on Virginia roads, while in Maryland it applies only to vehicles registered in Maryland. Virginia isn't the only state that does it that way, either. In VA, VA law applies - it is not trumped by the laws of MD or any other state. If I were to vote on which one makes more sense, I would go with the way MD does it.
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Posted By: Woodbridge Mike
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 10:41am
Well, you say you don't want opinions, and from the tone of your post you mean any replies that don't agree with you. Well, you post on a forum, you'll get opinions. So, here's mine.
1) You are expected to abide by the laws and regulations of the municipality and state you are in, regardless of the "inconvenience" or even impracticality that is sometimes caused by interjurisdictional travel. That is the responsibility of citizens in society.
2) This principle applies to vehicles and drivers when it comes to driving laws. You claim you were just driving through. However, picking up slugs is inherently a function of people who are traveling to or from a destination within Virginia, not the purview of tourists on their way through the Commonwealth. I don't care about your personal life, but your excuse "I was just passing through" doesn't pass the smell test.
3) Frankly, where you're car is registered (and where you are licensed) has little to do with where you truly reside. Military are allowed to keep home plates/addresses on their vehicles even when transferred to new bases. College students with vehicles often list Mom & Dad's address as the registration address. The logical extension of your argument is that a college student should be allowed to flout VA law for the vast majority of 4 (or 6 or 8) years while earning a degree just because their plates say they are from a different state.
4) The fact that removing tint when you go from state to state is very difficult, or that you were (maybe) ignorant of the VA tint statutes, is irrelevant. Before Chicago's gun ordinance was struck down by the Supreme Court, tourists and people passing through the city who happened to have a licensed, registered gun in their vehicle could be (and at times were) arrested and prosecuted. Is it practical or wise to throw a gun out of your window when you cross from Indiana into SE Chicago on the Skyway on the way to hunt in Wisconsin? No, but according to the ordinances, you would be breaking the law.
If you dislike VA tint law, feel free to lobby the VA legislature to change it. I'm sure you'll find others who agree with you, as well as many people like me who think 50% is plenty dark. However, I don't know what you expect our Congressmen to do. Tint laws don't affect interstate commerce, so you're wasting your time writing to them.
In the meantime, you can either reduce the tint in your car, stop picking up slugs and driving in the HOV lane (it is doubtful you would have been pulled over for tint alone if the cop wasn't trying to determine if you were violating HOV laws), or continue to break the law in Virginia and risk getting tickets.
-Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt.
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Posted By: Pele
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 12:49pm
If you know you've got illegal tint, try rolling down the windows next time.
-------------------------
Times to beat:
Horner Rd to/from Pentagon: 12 mins Without Slugs - 17 mins With slugs
Dale City exit to/from 3rd St Tunnel, D.C. 18 mins (No slugs - Holiday)
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Posted By: getmehome pweeze
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 3:41pm
"Please don't reply with your opinions. I don't care what your opinion is. I need logic."
Your tone is not appreciated here. You clearly have posted on this site before and should know that posting on a web forum allows any individual their personal right to express their opinion.
Logic? Logic is not the act of posting an angry rant on a MESSAGE BOARD and then telling folks not to respond with their opinion.
So, clearly- you just want to have folks pat you on the back and justify your anger at the Commonwealth of VA's state laws?
SHHHHEEEESH!
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Posted By: blacksky
Date Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 9:37pm
The bottom line is, if you wish to drive in Virginia, conform to its laws. Tint laws are in existence to protect the police officer. If they can't see if a driver or passenger has a weapon it is a perilous situation for them.
And for any other Maryland driver out there, get out of the left lane unless you are passing someone. It may be ok in MD to poke along in the left lane, but in VIRGINIA it is illegal. I really hate having to pass you in the right lane because you lack the ability to understand those signs directing slower traffic into the right lanes.
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Posted By: getmehome pweeze
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 10:12am
Posted By: usedcarsalesman
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 12:51pm
State laws are state laws - if you don't like them then stay out of that state. It's illegal to use a radar detector in Virgina also and "but I'm from Maryland" won't fly for that either. The officer could have easily handed you a scraper and insisted that you remove the tint on the spot or have the vehicle impounded - I've seen it done!
Also interesting from a previous post..
quote:
Originally posted by fnk1481
I understand everything everyone said, but I still think it's unfair to drivers of 2-door cars. I live in Woodbridge and work in Arlington. The drive is a NIGHTMARE. The Ballston slug line is dead. I tried to restart it; nothing. I have to drive and pick up slugs for Pentagon. I don't own a motorcycle or a hybrid; I own a 2-door car. It's clean. I don't heavily use perfume and keep the radio at a moderate level. I don't talk, have conversations on my cell phone, smoke or eat. I don't know what else to do...
[B)]
But your vehicle is still tagged in MD? Sounds like you are gaming the system and got caught up in your own loophole search. On the upside...I hope the slugs who do choose to ride in your 2-door appreciate the car being clean, the radio being at a moderate level, etc. [8D]
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Posted By: jadams08
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 1:59pm
quote:
Originally posted by usedcarsalesman
State laws are state laws - if you don't like them then stay out of that state. It's illegal to use a radar detector in Virgina also and "but I'm from Maryland" won't fly for that either. The officer could have easily handed you a scraper and insisted that you remove the tint on the spot or have the vehicle impounded - I've seen it done!
Also interesting from a previous post..
quote:
Originally posted by fnk1481
I understand everything everyone said, but I still think it's unfair to drivers of 2-door cars. I live in Woodbridge and work in Arlington. The drive is a NIGHTMARE. The Ballston slug line is dead. I tried to restart it; nothing. I have to drive and pick up slugs for Pentagon. I don't own a motorcycle or a hybrid; I own a 2-door car. It's clean. I don't heavily use perfume and keep the radio at a moderate level. I don't talk, have conversations on my cell phone, smoke or eat. I don't know what else to do...
[B)]
But your vehicle is still tagged in MD? Sounds like you are gaming the system and got caught up in your own loophole search. On the upside...I hope the slugs who do choose to ride in your 2-door appreciate the car being clean, the radio being at a moderate level, etc. [8D]
LMAO!!!!![:D]
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Posted By: Woodbridge Mike
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 3:00pm
quote:
Originally posted by usedcarsalesman
State laws are state laws - if you don't like them then stay out of that state. It's illegal to use a radar detector in Virgina also and "but I'm from Maryland" won't fly for that either. The officer could have easily handed you a scraper and insisted that you remove the tint on the spot or have the vehicle impounded - I've seen it done!
Also interesting from a previous post..
quote:
Originally posted by fnk1481
I understand everything everyone said, but I still think it's unfair to drivers of 2-door cars. I live in Woodbridge and work in Arlington. The drive is a NIGHTMARE. The Ballston slug line is dead. I tried to restart it; nothing. I have to drive and pick up slugs for Pentagon. I don't own a motorcycle or a hybrid; I own a 2-door car. It's clean. I don't heavily use perfume and keep the radio at a moderate level. I don't talk, have conversations on my cell phone, smoke or eat. I don't know what else to do...
[B)]
But your vehicle is still tagged in MD? Sounds like you are gaming the system and got caught up in your own loophole search. On the upside...I hope the slugs who do choose to ride in your 2-door appreciate the car being clean, the radio being at a moderate level, etc. [8D]
Hah! Great research on this poster. Well, when you falsify your registration, driver's license, etc. to avoid paying the dreaded VA personal property tax, I guess it's not much more of a stretch to complain about having to follow Virginia's traffic laws.
-Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscripti catapultas habebunt.
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Posted By: Jack Burden
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 4:49pm
You probably won't get much sympathy from a judge, but here is another analogy you could argue to the court -- enforcing the VA tint law against out of state drivers would be like requiring every out of state vehicle to comply with state inspection laws. Technically this breaks down becasue I would guess the statute says only vehicles registered -- as opposed to operated -- in VA must have state yearly state inspection.
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Posted By: sluDgE
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 5:06pm
Appears that fnk1481 started posting on this b'board in the Spring and possibly moved to the Commonwealth from Maryland at about that time. So, fnk1481 could be a Virginia "newbie"!
In an effort to be helpful and educational ... here is a VA DMV website titled "New to Virginia?" that lists what fnk1481 (and all of us) must do (with associated time limits) to comply with Virginia vehicle registration laws: http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/moving/newva.asp [:D]
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Posted By: sluDgE
Date Posted: 16 Jul 2010 at 7:12am
More tinting info ...
Here's a DMV website that describes allowable tinting of vehicle windows with/without medical waivers: http://www.dmv.virginia.gov/webdoc/citizen/medical/sunshading.asp
The site says an owner must request and obtain a medical waiver from DMV BEFORE getting the windows tinted darker than allowed with no waiver.
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Posted By: wvuguy2004
Date Posted: 19 Jul 2010 at 1:06pm
My two cents....
You don't mention in your post whether or not the officer actually gave you a ticket. I'm assuming from the tone of your post, he did.
Basically, any time you are operating a vehicle, you must conform to the standards of the state in which it is being operated. So if you are a resident of Maryland, but know that you will be frequenting VA, it would be wise to research what level of tint is legal in VA before having that tint applied.
Is this whole thing a bit burdensome? Yes.
The police officer's logic - Yeah, it's a bit flawed, and I think his analogy breaks down a bit. But I'll make a better one. I used to live in a location where studded snow tires were perfectly legal. However, I can not reasonable expect to drive them on the beltway. And yes, changing those tires was a bit of a hassle. But I needed to conform to the laws here.
Also a bit of advice - a combative attitude is not helpful with law enforcement. Is it necessarily his business what you're doing in VA? No, not really. But he could have just as easily been looking for a reason NOT to write you a ticket. If you had perhaps explained that you reside in MD, but picked up slugs to go to VA because you wished to visit family in VA (or whatever reason applies to you), he may have very well let you off with a warning. In my experience, when you're being evasive, police tend to react negatively. Fair? No. Fact of life? Yes.
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Posted By: lennydao
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2010 at 2:23pm
fnk1481
Take the ticket like a man or fight it in court.
You sound so dumb posting this comment.
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Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2010 at 3:36pm
The tint law in Virginia (46.2-1052) allows 35% on the rear side windows and the rear window, 50% on the front side windows, and none (other than what might have been part of the OEM glass) on the front (the windshield/windscreen). The statute is not specific to Virginia-registered vehicles, so if your tint is darker than what the state law allows, you lose. There have been bills introduced in the General Assembly to make the statute apply only to Virginia-registered vehicles, but they have failed every time. (Congress has nothing to do with the matter. It's a state law, not a federal law.)
The logic of applying it to out-of-staters is that Virginia has determined that the tint levels prescribed in the statute are the darkest safe levels. (Note that I'm neither agreeing nor disagreeing with their conclusion.) A darker tint level does not become "safe" simply because the motorist comes from a state that allows for a darker level.
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Posted By: USA
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2010 at 11:25am
quote:
Originally posted by RoadRunner
I presume it's a similar argument where an out of state hybrid owner thinks he can get on the Virginia HOV lanes because he has a hybrid. The stipulation for hybrids in the HOV lanes is you must have a clean fuel plate or 3 people (or 2 on I-66) in the vehicle...in other words, one has to conform to the laws of that state.
I think the argument may be slightly different. I've seen people squawk about the tint issue on car chat boards and their beef seems to be that it's not fair to issue a ticket when their state allows a particular modification to the vehicle and it's one that is not easily reversed (i.e., you can't remove the tint, drive through Virginia, then put it back up--compare to a radar detector where you can easily turn it off and stick it in the trunk).
There was a famous U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding Illinois's law applying to truck mud flaps. The Illinois rule rendered a mud flap design that was legal in at least 45 states illegal for use in Illinois; also, the banned design was specifically REQUIRED for use in at least one state (Arkansas). Several interstate trucking lines sued to enjoin the enforcement of the Illinois law on the basis that it was an unconstitutional infringement on interstate commerce. The matter went up to the Supreme Court and the trucking companies won, due in large part to the unreasonable cost of switching the mud flaps all the time because the Illinois law made it impossible to use one set of equipment that would comply with all states' laws. The opinion is Bibb v. Navajo Freight Lines, Inc., 359 U.S. 520 (1959), and if you're interested you can find it at http://supreme.justia.com/us/359/520/case.html - http://supreme.justia.com/us/359/520/case.html (the opinion begins where it says "Mr. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court").
The tint law is rather different from the one at issue in Bibb, though, because in the tint case it's very easy to comply with the tint laws in both Virginia and Maryland if you tint your windows to the Virginia standard. The mere fact that Maryland allows darker tint wouldn't by itself be enough of a reason to overturn the Virginia law, and the Bibb Court mentions this argument by noting several other cases involving things like truck weight limits on highways (where you can easily comply with everyone's law if you just comply with the minimum weight limit in any state).
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