The Safe Driver

Is it tinted….or tainted?

Staying cool this summer was a good thing, especially when the temperature rose beyond normal heights. We tended to use our vehicle’s air conditioning quite often, didn’t we? Another way to help keep the interior temperature cool is by having your windows tinted, but how dark should the tinting be?

For most jurisdictions, the driver’s side and passenger side front windows must be clear, but the driver can have as much tint in the rear window as they want. Check with your local jurisdiction before spending the cash on the tint. I understand by having darker windows the heat from the sun is reduced, but what about visibility from the outside in?

Let’s think about the safety of police officers. Imagine you’re an officer and have just pulled a vehicle over for running a red light or stop sign. The officer gets out of their vehicle, but can’t see inside the vehicle to know how many people are inside or what they may be doing. Wouldn’t that possibly put the officer’s life at risk? How would you feel approaching that vehicle?

I’ve been inside vehicles that have had dark tint on their windows and I often felt as if the day was overcast. I enjoy the sunshine and it’s a much needed part of our lives. It’s been noted that we need to see the sunshine roughly 15 to 20 minutes a day to keep us in good mental health.  Why damper that joy by making our vehicles look good by having the darkest tint possible?

The other thing to realize is if you have the darkest tint in the rear window and it’s an overcast day, the driver behind can practically disappear if they’re driving a dark vehicle without their headlights on. It would be more difficult to notice them and if they were tailgating you, you wouldn’t know you needed to adjust your driving to avoid having a rear crash with them.

So, let’s keep the interior of the vehicle cool with tinted windows, but keep it light enough that we can see out on overcast days and that others can still see inside while they are on the outside looking in. It has the possibilities of keeping our driving community cool, calm and collected.

**Have a quick listen to this short episode of the “Speed Bumps” podcast as tinted windows is discussed further!