The police are justified in cracking down on people who drive vehicles with tinted windows 鈥� a car owner鈥檚 vanity should not trump safety 鈥� but why does the law allow windows to be tinted in the first place?
The Capital Regional District Integrated Road Safety Unit started targeting tinted windows today, the beginning of a five-week blitz against illegal tinting.
While window-tinting is often a fashion statement, it does have practical applications. It can help keep a vehicle cool and it helps hide vehicle contents from would-be thieves.
But because tinting restricts a driver鈥檚 ability to see and be seen, it is illegal in sa国际传媒 to apply any degree of tinting to the front windshield (other than a seven-centimetre strip across the top) or the windows of the driver or front passenger doors.
Let鈥檚 be clear 鈥� auto detailers who tint windows for customers are not breaking the law. It is not illegal to apply the tinting, just to drive a car with tinted windows. One auto detailer interviewed by sa国际传媒 reporter Katie DeRosa said he clearly informs customers who want their windows tinted that it鈥檚 illegal. Another said he refuses to apply illegal tinting.
Sell someone a bottle of liquor, and they don鈥檛 break the law by walking out the door. But a person with a tinted window breaks the law the second he or she drives the newly tinted car onto a public street.
It just makes sense to stop the problem at its source.
