I am driving to work in the Z [the DD is in for service] on RT75 nearing I70 when an unmarked rolls past in the opposite direction. Always looking at my mirrors, I checked the rear view to see the unmarked no six car lengths behind me. He zooms up and BAM!, the lights come on.

OK OK... I was not speeding or doing anything stupid. I have been driving this route to work for the last six years. Doing the right things and taking the right steps, I slowly pulled over, dropped both windows, and had all the necessary information in hand.

Trooper [Sgt no less] - "Good morning sir. I pulled you over for what appears to be a tint violation. May I see your license and registration."

Me - "Yes sir." He goes back to the car and returns.

Trooper - "Please put your windows up half way. Do you have paperwork on the tint installation?"

Me - "No sir." I put the windows up half way. He scans his hand behind the passenger window and looks at the rear glass.

Trooper - "Do you know the tint level?"

Me - "I believe it to be 35% sir."

Trooper - "It appears to be too dark. The legal level is 50%."

The Sgt. then decided to inspect more than just the tint. He asked me to cut the wheel hard left.
- Checked my suspension
- Checked my tires
- Checked my plates and holder, front and rear

Trooper - "Your rear tires are kind of low. The front tires have a tad more wear on the outside but appears fine otherwise." - He then checks my mileage. "I will be right back."

The Sgt. came back and issued me a repair order; reviewed the information and the process.

Trooper - "Should you put improper tint back on again after the inspection, it could result in your driver license suspension or worse. I should have been able to see an Asian male in a blue jacket driving while looking at the vehicle."

I acknowledged my understanding of the information and signed the order.

Trooper - "Please be careful when pulling out. Have a good day."

Definitely a weird stop considering that I have driven by MANY troopers, and Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, Anne Arundel, Prince Georges police, without as much as a second look. It all went down very polite and cordial though.

I suspect this - I do not take the Z out in any weather. It so happened that my Accord daily is in the shop for routine service. Given the overcast skies, the tint probably stood out like a sore thumb. DOH! Oh well, I will refrain from driving the Z in the weather again.

Sorry - No Abui01-style pics. Btw - I have not been stopped in over 12 years, long over due I guess.

Be careful out there!

 

Sounds like you finally got caught for your evil crime!

 

Sucks but hey at least you did not get fined some major tickets.

 

=( happened to me too... but did not get anything for the tint...

 

WTF? Legal tint in MD is 35% since when is 50% legal? Godd@mn bored a$$ cops

 

Yup, tint level in MD is 35%.
http://www.tintdude.com/laws.html

He checked your mileage? Now, that is weird.

 

Yea... isnt the legal 35%? I heard the same story from a friend. Has the law changed?

 

I just got harassed for the no front tag a couple of times but never for tint

 

Should've recorded the conversation and call the cop a WASIS and get out of it at the court

 

why did he look at your suspension and tires? WTF?

 

I am soooo evil.

I think it must have been the "hapless female" look.

I truly think he was bored - to u-turn, cite tint, and inspect the car.

Maybe he thought I was riding on the tires too long - cite another repair.

He was looking for rice and found none. Too bad.

Rice, more repairs to cite - even looked at the how the plates were mounted! WTF?!

 

+1 was he doing a safety inspection, i have never had a cop ask me to turn my wheel to check the suspension. interesting.

 

Legal is 35%, do you have MD tags or VA?

VA legal limit is 50% in front, 35% in back.

Either case just goto a police station or ask a cop nicely to meter your windows. If it checks out fight that ticket!

 

+1.

Sorry to hear that man. Did u get his name and badge number? That stop imo was questionable. Especially to start running a basic inspection on your vehicle. What an a$$. I would think he'd have better things to do then run random roadside vehicle inspections.

 

Just got pulled for nothing but tint on my DD altima coupe. Had 35% film on it which I thought was legal but I read a paper posted at MVA saying 50% film is legal blah blah blah. Good luck getting it signed off on, only 2 days out of the week for a 1.5 hour window BS. and the whole inspection is a load of chit man

 

they changed it to 50%?

 

Be careful out there!

Apparently, there is a 60-day crack-down going on for tint.

From the Frederick News Post -
"Police began a 60-day crackdown on drivers with illegally tinted car windows on Monday." - This went effective on 3/3.

The full article -
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sec...?StoryID=72037

 

oh no... time to drive my corrola.....>.<

 

f-ck police collecting taxes and harrasing people driving to work and school. I wish they would focus on catching real criminals for rape, theft, and killing... not this petty tint bs.

 

Imagine his surprise when a 6 foot tall black man wearing a wife beater rolls down the window!!!!

His lack of corrective lenses is not your burden...

None the less, this was a routine mechanical inspection, they do this to A LOT of cars now that states are doing away with inspection stickers.

Basically it's a good excuse to be stopped at any time.. he was probably looking for modifications. If one mod is found, it usually leads to another which usually leads to a $2500 EPA fine for a catless exhaust system.

I got stopped once at dawn on a Sunday morning on the interstate with ZERO traffic going 89 in the Z. The officer completed a full inspection, including checking the mileage, tires, suspension, TURN SIGNALS, and looking under the hood. I was pretty patient and had nearly new Z rated tires and almost new brakes/suspension parts.

He explained the dangers of speeding and blah blah blah and asked if I had kids or was married...

After all that, he said I really shouldn't be going 89mph but if I was going to, that I had "proper equipment" on a controlled access freeway during a time of little to no traffic, and let me go...