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

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"
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!