A NEW law no longer requires inspectors to check a particular aspect of a car’s appearance, causing major concern among drivers.
The law will no longer require shops to check the window tint on a driver’s car during annual inspections.
A new window tint law is sparking concerns among inspectors[/caption]
The new law no longer requires inspectors to check the window tint (stock photo)[/caption]
The change will take effect on December 1, meaning that it’s up to the driver to verify that their window tint complies with the law.
The whole law is titled: ‘An Act to remove the safety inspection of tinted windows and to require a driver to lower a tinted window on the approach of a law enforcement officer.’
The new law in North Carolina allows drivers to have a window tint that is less than 32 percent.
“Tinted windows cannot measure darker than 32 percent with a North Carolina-approved window tint meter,” according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
“The tint on a windshield cannot extend more than 5 inches below the top of the windshield or below the AS1 line of the windshield, whichever is longer.”
To have the window tint inspected, drivers would need to pay an additional $10 fee during the inspection.
Window tints used to be required to be checked; however, shops no longer need to do so.
Removing the requirement for inspectors to check the tint has some shop owners worrying that drivers will think the 32 percent tint law no longer applies.
“A lot of people think that because the tint requirement for inspections has gone away, that it’s just the Wild West,” Garrett Kassel, the sales manager of Sun Stoppers Charlotte, told Spectrum News.
“However, a proper shop should educate and tell people that there is still a legal limit enforced, but it doesn’t get in the way of you actually inspecting your vehicle and allowing it to be registered for the upcoming year.”
Under the new law, drivers with tinted windows are required to roll their driver’s side window down if pulled over by a cop.
If the officer approaches the vehicle from the right side, they will need to roll down the passenger’s side window.
“It’s just for everybody’s safety. So, if you can’t see out and the light can’t come in, we can’t see in,” Officer Wade Crouse of the Greensboro Police told CBS affiliate WFMY.
This new requirement is designed to enhance safety during traffic stops.
Window tint law
According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation:
- Tinted windows cannot measure darker than 32 percent with a North Carolina-approved window tint meter
- The tint on a windshield cannot extend more than 5 inches below the top of the windshield or below the AS1 line of the windshield, whichever is longer
“As those officers are approaching the vehicle at any given time, they’re always checking for a number of occupants that are in the vehicle to see what those occupants are doing,” Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mark McDaniel told Spectrum News.
“It just makes it a little easier for them, as they make that approach, to see what’s going on inside that vehicle and just makes them a little safer because then they can react better once they approach.”
Officers are warning the public that just because the tint is no longer inspected, doesn’t mean they won’t get a ticket up to $50 if they fail to comply with the law.
“The law still applies to how dark it can be. So you still can’t have it as dark as you want,” Crouse continued.
“You still have to fall between that 32% to 35% light transmittance.
“Just because it’s no longer gonna be inspected when you get your car inspected, you still have to comply with the law, cause you can still get a ticket.”
