Window Tinting?

Hey Guys and Gals...

Is tinting the driver/passenger or the front of the car illegal? (obviously not the windscreen)

After doing research on the interwebs (probaly not the best idea) ive come to mixed conclusions.

Halfords Say

Quote:

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The Law - "Under regulations first issued 20 years ago and clarified three years ago, the windscreen must allow in at least 75 per cent of light while at least 70 per cent must pass through the driver's side windows"

The Highway Code - "You MUST NOT use a vehicle with excessively dark tinting applied to the windsceen, or to the glass in any front window to either side of the driver. Window tinting applied during manufacture complies with the Visual Light Transmittance (VLT) standards. There are no VLT limits for rear windscreen or rear passenger windows"

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So according to that the best thing for you too do is:

-Leave the Front Windscreen completely?
-You can have the boot, and the back of the car, as dark as you like

When buying the film, how do you know what % of light it allows through? i presume it would tell you this on the box?

But what confuses me is? you see brand new cars, which only have the back tinted? and not the front? is this a owner preference or is it geniuely illegal to have window tints on the front of the car.

It would be nice for somone in the Police Force, to clear this up for me, but i understand that, its not always possible to get exactly what you want. I have a friend who got pulled and fined for having window tints on the front of his car? which included a 35 quid fine? (ironically on the same line as riding on the pavement with a push bike) but the Window Tints were stock? he hadn't added them, they were on the car from the day it was purchased.

And how idiot proof is window tinting? and doing it yourself?

Im good with a computer, im not so good at DIY. I can do basic things!

i think that the halfords quote is about right, but if you do decide to do it, i would advise paying for it to be done properly. i once tried to tint the back windows in a landrover. nice easy flat glass. 3 out of the 4 got done and i gave up. it looked a mess, even with following the destructions.i will never attempt it again, and im quite good with my hands. i just couldnt get all the bubbles out, or get a neat cut around the edges. i just dont know how the pros do it, especially on curved glass.

I think the law states tht 70% of light must be visable through the 2 front windows.

Your only restricted on the front 3 windows. All can be done but only very lightly (even the windscreen).

There are no restrictions on rear passenger or rear windscreen.

Coppers have hand held devices to check...I would just stick to the back one's....

I think you will find the standard tint on car windows meet the 70% rule, so any extra tinting and your over ;)

As for the rear windows, paint them if you like :P

Its ashame becuse having just the rears done makes it a bit Van like IMO.:(

I'm ex-police for what it's worth.

The 70% rule (only a max tint stopping 30% of visible light) will be for the windows in the driver and front passanger doors. The front window can stop up to 25% of visible light. Windows behind the driver, including the rear window, can stop up to 100% of light (think about transit vans that don't have visibility out the back). Halfords is correct (who'd have thought it)

The only way that you can tell is with a special meter that most traffic cars will carry. The reason for this is that different windows will block a certain amount anyway.

I've not done it myself but from what I've seen there's a knack to doing it. If you've got that knack then it's easy, if you haven't then you end up with a window that has a mottled paintwork with lines in effect from bubbles and folds and looks naff. You'll still need to get it checked to make sure the 70% visible light gets through.

Hope that helps

Quote:

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Originally Posted by turbine2

I'm ex-police for what it's worth.

The 70% rule (only a max tint stopping 30% of visible light) will be for the windows in the driver and front passanger doors. The front window can stop up to 25% of visible light. Windows behind the driver, including the rear window, can stop up to 100% of light (think about transit vans that don't have visibility out the back). Halfords is correct (who'd have thought it)

The only way that you can tell is with a special meter that most traffic cars will carry. The reason for this is that different windows will block a certain amount anyway.

I've not done it myself but from what I've seen there's a knack to doing it. If you've got that knack then it's easy, if you haven't then you end up with a window that has a mottled paintwork with lines in effect from bubbles and folds and looks naff. You'll still need to get it checked to make sure the 70% visible light gets through.

Hope that helps

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Thank you for your input, it will be of great help to me, if and when i get it done :)

With regard to the car looking like a Van? Im not going to 'Paint' my rear windows lol, and the car in question is a VW Golf so it REALLY wouldn't look right.

Waking up a very old thread here but I wondered if anyone has thought about using switchable glass to give the benefit of a tint which can simply be switched on and off.
The material was primarily developed for in building use and immediately changes from transparent to opaque when a voltage is applied. It can be applied as a tint film and just needs a pair of wires to operate.

Traditionally it has been limited to frosted white which is probably not the best look for most cars, but black switchable films are now becoming available. Anyone tried it on a car ?