California Tint Law

[CourtClerk]

Yeah ... what CC said!

- Carl

YEAH!!!! I got the Carl stamp of approval!!! Hey, when I went back to the courts, I started in traffic. When I got my JA, my first judge was a traffic judge... I think I still got it, even though I've moved on. I still help out in traffic from time to time.

 

[CdwJava]

Well, I know what you said was right, I just didn't have the where-with-all to look it up right now ... busy at home ... kids not doing homework, wife nagging them, and me trying to stay out of the way (which means getting up and looking busy).

- Carl

 

[CourtClerk]

Well, I know what you said was right, I just didn't have the where-with-all to look it up right now ... busy at home ... kids not doing homework, wife nagging them, and me trying to stay out of the way (which means getting up and looking busy).

- Carl

You're doing an awesome job of being busy while the wife is trying to get the kids to do homework.... Sounds to me like she got the short end of the stick tonight.

 

[CdwJava]

You're doing an awesome job of being busy while the wife is trying to get the kids to do homework.... Sounds to me like she got the short end of the stick tonight.

I went out and got pizza ... chased kids ... yelled at them when she was ... took out the trash ... wandered from front to back of the house to look busy ... and occasionally paused to check e-mail ... I have 18 years of experience at this "busy" thing.

- Carl

 

[davew128]

Carl, let me ask you this question. You see a car with plates from another state (let's assume it's a tourist who drove from whatever state you want to use) where the tint is legal. Is the driver of the vehicle still required to strip the tint off his front window once he crosses into California or is this more like the front license plate law, where you can't cite someone for not having a front plate if the state the vehicle is registered in doesn't provide a front plate?

I would understand a new resident having to do so, but does it apply to a non-resident?

 

[CdwJava]

Carl, let me ask you this question. You see a car with plates from another state (let's assume it's a tourist who drove from whatever state you want to use) where the tint is legal. Is the driver of the vehicle still required to strip the tint off his front window once he crosses into California or is this more like the front license plate law, where you can't cite someone for not having a front plate if the state the vehicle is registered in doesn't provide a front plate?

I would understand a new resident having to do so, but does it apply to a non-resident?

License and tint requirements do not apply to non-residents. But, if the visitor is no longer a visitor (i.e. he has taken up residence or employment) then the vehicle and the driver are subject to CA registration and licensing requirements.

- Carl

 

[Zigner]

License and tint requirements do not apply to non-residents.

Carl - is that by policy? CC posted the applicable section of the vehicle code and it doesn't seem to differentiate between resident and non-resident.

 

[CdwJava]

Carl - is that by policy? CC posted the applicable section of the vehicle code and it doesn't seem to differentiate between resident and non-resident.

A STOP (detention) could be held to be valid under the assumption that two plates are required, or that the window tinting is unlawful, but the violation would not be.

Ref:

(Glick (1988) 203 Cal.App.3d 796, 801-804; but see Twilley (9th Cir. 2000) 222 F.3d 1092, 1096; White (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 636 [violation of Veh. Code, § 5202 cannot be based on a mistake regarding license plate requirements of another state].)

- Carl

 

[Zigner]

A STOP (detention) could be held to be valid under the assumption that two plates are required, or that the window tinting is unlawful, but the violation would not be.

Ref:

(Glick (1988) 203 Cal.App.3d 796, 801-804; but see Twilley (9th Cir. 2000) 222 F.3d 1092, 1096; White (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 636 [violation of Veh. Code, § 5202 cannot be based on a mistake regarding license plate requirements of another state].)

- Carl

Fair enough - not trying to argue

 

[msiron]

License and tint requirements do not apply to non-residents. But, if the visitor is no longer a visitor (i.e. he has taken up residence or employment) then the vehicle and the driver are subject to CA registration and licensing requirements.

- Carl

Well thats what I meant about traveling to CA with my MA regged car.

 

[I_Got_Banned]

License and tint requirements do not apply to non-residents. But, if the visitor is no longer a visitor (i.e. he has taken up residence or employment) then the vehicle and the driver are subject to CA registration and licensing requirements.

- Carl

Is it strictly "tint requirements"?

What about other correctable violations? Which can also mean "equipment violation"? Which might open up a can of worms as far as safety requirements?

 

[CdwJava]

Is it strictly "tint requirements"?

What about other correctable violations? Which can also mean "equipment violation"? Which might open up a can of worms as far as safety requirements?

It depends upon the violations. If the violation is for registration - even if out of state - we can generally cite for it. If it is for a lack of a front plate and the officer does not know for certain if a front plate is required, probably not. Some things are obvious - such as lights ... others, not so.

- Carl

 

[hunterln]

resurrecting this thread.

Let me start by saying I am not above the law, I'm just curious about the following...

If you get a fix-it ticket for illegal front window tint in CA, and instead of correcting you just pay the fine (10$ vs like 90$ or something) because you are given an option to do so.....what happens when you get pulled over again for the tint you didnt get corrected?

Do you get another fix-it ticket?
Do you get a non-correctable ticket? (if so, whats the fine?)
Or is it up to the officer pretty much?

 

[I_Got_Banned]

(10$ vs like 90$ or something)

Actually, it is $25 for the dismissal (if you provide the court with proof of correction on or before the due date) and $173 if you choose to just pay the fine.

Do you get another fix-it ticket?
Do you get a non-correctable ticket? (if so, whats the fine?)
Or is it up to the officer pretty much?

This is from the California bail Schedule and it cites conditions under which the officer can decide to issue such a violation as correctable or non-correctable (pursuant to CVC 40610(b)):

A potentially eligible equipment, driver's license, or registration offense may be cited as correctable on a notice to appear unless the citing officer determines that the violation presents an immediate safety hazard, there is evidence of fraud or persistent neglect, or the violator does not agree to, or cannot, promptly correct the violation.​

Persistent neglect can be interpreted to exist for either the current violation or it could also refer to a previously issued citation for which you failed to show proof of correction.

Oh, and next time (or if you have additional comments or questions) please start your own thread...

 

[HappyWanderer]

While a stop may be legal, a conviction is not. An arrest (citation) may not be as well, depending on the circumstances. A mistake of law should not be able to give probable cause for arrest. A mistake of fact, yes.

A cop can pull over a person he thinks violates the tint law. He has a reasonable suspicion to believe the law is broken when he sees the darker window.

He can issue a citation (arrest) to the person if he reasonably believes the window was tinted too darkly. Even if it was not. This is a mistake of fact which the arrest will be legal as there is probable cause. It would be up to the driver to defend himself in court. (Actually, for the state to prove the elements of the crime.)

He should not be able to issue a citation if the tint were legal based on a medical exception in another state. (If the question was just if it was too tinted and was legal in one state and not another, the previous paragraph would apply.) Because the tint would not be illegal and to think it was would be a mistake of law and not of fact. This is the same as the front license plate requirement in CA and not in some other states.

Zinger is right as far as a key question is where the person is a resident of and the related registration requirements of the vehicle.

(You can read a lot of cases on the internet if you look. Amazing what you can discover.)