Going to court tomorrow to try to get out of Tint ticket

[CruisingAZ]

Originally Posted by mnext02

As NWA would say.... F the police

I hope you remember that the next time you are a victim! Bring your smart to AZ and I'll write you a ticket and you can sit in our jail until your court date.

[theguywiththelongestname]

Originally Posted by xcrew229x

When a cop, (formerly me) stops you at night, he can't see a thing in a car tinted too dark. So he either aproaches with his hand firmly on his gun, or his gun out, behind his back. Because he wants to live to go home at the end of his shift. And he doesn't know you from Adam. And it is simply good tactics. I had a tint meter, and there are a bunch of cars out there that are way over the line. It's a BIG red flag for a cop, especially at night. There's no rule that says the guy driving the smart car isn't the suspect.

that's wexactly right! a good reason to follow this procedure when pulled over:

1. turn on hazard lights while pulling over
2. turn off radio
3. roll down driver's window...even a little bit in bad weather...so you can hear the officer and the officer can see and hear you...
4. most importantly: place your hands on top of the steering wheel in full view...
5.lastly, while engaging the officer, be sure to let them know what you are planning to do before you do it...for example: "I am going to open the glove box and get the registration and insurance...okay?"

most officers will respond positively to these gestures...like xcrew said, they don't know you...and they just want to go home alive at the end of the day...whether you go home (or to jail, or the morgue) is just a little less important...

[bull8042]

Originally Posted by xcrew229x

When a cop, (formerly me) stops you at night, he can't see a thing in a car tinted too dark. So he either aproaches with his hand firmly on his gun, or his gun out, behind his back. Because he wants to live to go home at the end of his shift. And he doesn't know you from Adam. And it is simply good tactics. I had a tint meter, and there are a bunch of cars out there that are way over the line. It's a BIG red flag for a cop, especially at night. There's no rule that says the guy driving the smart car isn't the suspect.

This is 100% correct. I spent a while on "the other side" of the blue lights several years back. There is no way to explain how unnerving and downright scary it is exiting your cruiser and approaching a vehicle not having any idea how people are in there or what they are doing while you are walking up to it. I value my privacy like the next person. But I also understand why the law is on the books.
Think about a cop walking up to the side of your vehicle at night, nervous or even scared because he can't see in. And as you shuffle for your documents with your hands not visible and your little one just out of sight as well jumps or screams. You might be taking a bullet that you don't want!
Put yourself in the guy's position that just wants to make it home to his own family after his shift.....

[rawlus®]

if a cop puts a bullet through a tinted window because he's scared and doesn't know what's going on on the other side of the window - then that cop should probably retire.

i find most cop's attitude towards window tinting to be much ado about relatively nothing. most seem to see it as an easy thing to harass regular people about. there's an appropriate way to enforce the law and there's an inappropriate way to do it. i think more cops could use better judgment here. in the sun belt, i can see tinting being far more important and even necessary than in cloudy new england.

that being said, some restriction on tinting seems prudent. limo tinting the driver's window seems excessive and unnecessary. 35% seems to be the magic number in most jurisdictions. i can live with that.

<-- doesn't have any tinting.
<-- retired LEO

[bigdog702]

Maybe I can help you out, being I am a member of law enforcement. Was the tint the only offense on the ticket? That is weird, because I don't usually mess with tint except as an add-on to someone not being very nice to me who was speeding or doing something else stupid. If it is just a tint ticket only there are 2 options for you. If the officer didn't test your tint with the gauge( Did he make you roll down the window half-way and slip a white box over the window?) If he did that your are pretty screwed because it is like saying I only had a few beers, then blowing a .18 on the breathalyser(Legal limit is .08 here), I get that a lot. If he didn't measure your tint with the meter, when you go to court plead not guilty, and make them bring the officer in at your next court date, and simply explain to the judge that he didn't measure my tint, so how would he know it was too dark. Or tomorrow at court If he didn't measure it and you know this for sure, mention it to the prosecutor, or the judge when they call your name. They may throw it out if they believe you, or worst comes to worst downgrade it to a parking ticket or something instead of tying up the courts with some bullsh*t offense. Bottom line they just want some money out of you, and if you can avoid anything on your license that is a good thing. Here though, tint violations don't end up on your driving record, they just consider them equipment violations like a busted tail-light.Hope this helps

[knipdlo]

In NYS you can get clearance for heavy tint from an eye doctor because you 'need' it to see due to poor eyesight... do you wear glasses or contacts? Call your doc's office...

[bull8042]

Obviously, to me at least, people are responding to this thread without even reading all of the posts. It is very surprising that bigdog702 would respond as a LEO in a helpful manner after what was said by the original poster....
Maybe I am just a little more trivial than some.

[rawlus®]

i think if your eyesight is so poor that sunglasses won't do the trick - then you probably shouldn't have a driver's license.

[bull8042]

But officer, I am only smoking this because of my headache.... Huh?... Aspirin?! What is that?

[BimmerDob]

This thread and others around fighting tickets are interesting to read. I think a majority of us do support law enforcement in principle and derogatory remarks against them in general, while maybe intended to be provocative or inflammatory, are probably not the thinking of a majority of forum readers / posters.

To those in law enforcement on this board, let me say thanks for doing your job.

To those who contest tickets, I fully encourage and support every citizen to exercise their rights “No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”. Last I checked, money is property, and the judgment of law enforcement is not the last step in the process. Courts are part of the process and if they get clogged with small infractions, then maybe we as a society will question why we have so many nanny laws. Expediency is the the fast path to tyranny.

Doing something illegal and then just righting a check isn’t justice or a deterrent, it is just a revenuing scheme (which was highlighted by the example pay the fine but no effort required to remove the tint). Maybe we need to question why so many things are illegal , yet we are empowered to do them (buy cars that can go faster the any maximum speed limit). Are there to many nanny laws in the US?

And for all those professing The Dr. Quack (Phil) “man up” approach to just paying tickets, when was the last time you turned yourself in for violating a traffic law? Or is “manning up” only limited to when you get caught / pulled over / ticketed? Moral high grounds are usually built on shifting sands.

Now let the fun continue.....