Northumberland OPP held a educational day at Kia Motors in Cobourg on Saturday, May 11, 2019 and found that a staggering number of vehicles had illegal tint on their windows.
The educational day where officers checked the tint on vehicles and license plate covers was sponsored by Kia Motors in Cobourg and Reflections Glass and Accessories in Port Hope.
“I think the campaign overall was very successful in bringing the damages and the illegality of dark tint to the forefront,” said OPP Sgt. Mark Collins.
Of approximately 60 vehicles checked, 85% of the vehicles that were tested – failed.
There were also a chance for a number of door prizes (five dash cameras from Kia Motors and five peel and tints from Reflections Glass and Accessories) for people who brought their vehicles in to be checked.
Presently any window coating on the front windshield or windows directly to the right and left of the driver that substantially obscures the interior of a motor vehicle is illegal and carries a fine of $110.00.
“We’re doing this as an educational program rather than giving tickets on the road because nobody wants to get a ticket and to be frank, it’s not fun giving tickets,” said Collins.
But in the near future it is expect that the government will assign a numerical value to the tint permissible on a vehicle brining it in line with what allows a new vehicle to pass a safety test. Any tint that allows less than 30% of light to pass through the windows directly to the right or left of the driver will be illegal.
There are a number of reasons for this law:
· dark tint makes it impossible to make eye contact with drivers, increasing the danger to pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists on the road.
· it hides such life threatening activities as impaired driving, distracted driving, and failure to wear seatbelts, again increasing the danger to pedestrians, cyclists, and other motorists.
· it hides other illegal activities (drug trafficking, human trafficking, etc.
· it creates and officer safety concern when approaching a vehicles.
For plate covers, in general, anything that obstructs or alters the license plate in any way, including covers that change the colour or reflectivity of the plate is illegal and carries a fine of $110.00.
Saturday, it was a strictly a educational day and no records were kept of any other the vehicles checked by Northumberland OPP and Cobourg Police..
Collins stated that if anyone is concerned about the negative effects of the sun there are clear window coating available that significantly reduce the UV rays that enter vehicles.
While most of the drivers were very surprised their vehicles were two dark, a few just wanted to confirm their suspicions.
Doug Smith brought his vehicle in and said it was a great idea police are being proactive.
“I had some concerns about it being to dark myself. I’m quite willing to change it for several reasons. At night when I’m driving in town and I come up to an intersection, I can see the cars because they have their lights on, but if there is someone in dark clothes that are standing at the intersection and want to walk across the street I can’t see there. So I put my windows down to look both ways for pedestrians.”
Steve Elford whose vehicle was one of the few that passed said it’s a good program.
“There are so many people that have tint and license plate covers – it’s road safety and that’s what it comes down too.”
With no records kept it was an added bonus to stop in said Elford.
Ryan Pais had one of the more darker tints of the day with only 14% of the light that passed through the window.
‘It did surprise me because I didn’t realize the laws surrounding tints. But it was good way to make everyone aware and make things safer on the roads.”
Pais also found out the license plate cover he had was illegal, but wondered why they were allowed to sell them in stores.
“It was another eye-opener, but stores sell them to make that extra dollar.”
A number of local dignitaries also came in to support the cause including MPP David Piccini and Cobourg Mayor John Henderson who had their vehicles checked for tint – and passed.
At the end of the day, Collins said, “it was an excellent, educational opportunity for the general public.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
