No More Tint Law in GA

[jo]

From ajc.com... I still don't know how you can see out of super dark windows anyhow...

State Supreme Court tosses car window tinting law
Problem is with residency of driver, justices rule

The Associated Press
Published on: 06/07/04

The Georgia Supreme Court has tossed out a state law making it illegal for motorists to have heavily tinted windows on their cars.

In an opinion released Monday, the court indicated its problem wasn't so much the idea behind the law but the way the law was applied.

The statute affected cars which were registered in Georgia and which were driven by people who resided in the state. Nonresidents weren't affected by the law, which carried misdemeanor penalties.

The court said it saw no valid reason for the Legislature to draw a distinction between residents and nonresidents, and therefore ruled the law invalid.

"It being self-evident that nonresidents can be as dangerous to police officers as residents, we perceive no rational connection between the residence of the driver of a vehicle and the goal of improving law enforcement officer safety during traffic stops," the court held in a unanimous opinion.

A footnote in the ruling cited the laws of several other states whose window-tinting laws "apply to all persons without regard to residence."

The law made it illegal to apply material to car windows which reduced light transmission to less than 32 percent or which increased light reflectance to more than 20 percent. Tinting applied by a manufacturer prior to delivery was not affected.

The law was challenged by Jessica Ciak, who was stopped in Cobb County by an officer who suspected her windows were tinted beyond the limits of the law.

Her attorneys challenged the law's constitutionality before a trial judge but lost a motion to have it invalidated. The Supreme Court appeal followed.

Cobb County Solicitor General Barry Morgan, whose office prosecuted the case, said the decision exposes law enforcement officers to a potential hazard until the Legislature can meet again and decide whether the law can be fixed.

"A law enforcement officer who's making an approach to a car never knows what he's going to meet," said Morgan, adding that heavily tinted windows simply increase the risk.

[Rhoad Racing]

what!? could it be.....politicians actually putting two and two together?! Saklae Bluh!

[Drew@blitzkriegmedia]

I wish they would do this in Jersey

[djdorifto]

in cali too!

[Guest]

So either they ticket all drivers out of state or not, or they let us have dark tint. Good to know. But I don't think I would go darker than 32% anyways I want to maintain decent vision at night.

[jo]

Same here. I suck at night vision so I kept mine at the legal limit. I think it's sort of hazardous otherwise!

[charlie]

not to mention 20% (and below) is just ssooooo delightfully tacky, unless of course you're in the DM Limo in which case bulletproof 100% reflective glass on the stretched hachi is just fine. And make no mistake...we can get that bitch SIDEWAYS!

[andysapp]

I think that aside from whatever reason the law was against dark tint (Police being unable to see a possibly armed suspect)... dark tint is just too hard to see through. I have 35% on my e46... and I still need to roll the windows down 65% of the time to make turns at night. I wouldn't dare go any darker based on that alone. I almost would have rather taken a lighter tint than the previously "legal" limit.

Form before function is always a bad idea. Remember the wingless Audi TT 110 MPH speed wobble? The same applies here... IMHO.

[andysapp]

...unless of course you're in the DM Limo in which case bulletproof 100% reflective glass on the stretched hachi is just fine. And make no mistake...we can get that bitch SIDEWAYS!

DUDE! We need a Hachi driftMechaniks bulletproof limo!!!
With gullwing doors and spinners!