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Legal Advice

Y

*Y*

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 19, 2004
184
0
VA
Hey,

This is for all the lawyers out there. Say that I was stopped for tint. The limit in my state is 50%. My tint is visibly much darker. However the officer can not check it because he does not have the tool. Say he was still would write me a ticket. Would his "logical" reasoning count in court?:D

Thanks
 
I am no lawyer

Hell no, make sure you fight it when you do get in court.

I have been pulled over recently and the cop said it looked like I was speeding. I asked - let me see the radar gun. I was on my merry way in twenty seconds.

Some cops just try to get away with writing tickets... they need the money.
 
Are you sure?

Even if it is obvious that the tint is illegal?
 
Well hey, you can be brought to court for obviously showing signs of being drunk. No need for a breathalyzer when you can't even stand strait :p

Well, when you do go in court, at least mention he didn't have any tool to measure the tint. Maybe you'll get lucky.
 
The first thing you should do is strip off the tint on your front windows...it's stupid to do it in the first place. The rest of the drivers will thank you for being able to see them. And it removes their ability to go back and prove it.

You may get lucky, but if it was very obviously beyond the limit, they'll likely nail you anyway.
 
*Y* said:
Hey,

This is for all the lawyers out there. Say that I was stopped for tint. The limit in my state is 50%. My tint is visibly much darker. However the officer can not check it because he does not have the tool. Say he was still would write me a ticket. Would his "logical" reasoning count in court?:D

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm not a lawyer either, but I think if you're going to fight it you'd better be prepared to prove that you are in compliance with the law. The lawyers I have known say that, generally (whether it's fair or not), the police tend to get the benefit of the doubt.

Also, some states will slap you with court costs in addition to the original fine if you contest a traffic ticket and lose. If it were me, I'd find out whether or not I'd be liable for the court costs (and how much they are) before I'd think about going in front of a judge.
 
First of all the question is not with the tint itself. I can see other drivers perfectly well, thank you very much. Tint makes the car look better, helps on sunny days, and prevents the car from heating up as much.
Anyway, we are not talking about the tint, but the concept itself.
So basically an officers judgement can be taken for reasonable evidence?:(
 
*Y* said:
First of all the question is not with the tint itself. I can see other drivers perfectly well, thank you very much. Tint makes the car look better, helps on sunny days, and prevents the car from heating up as much.
Anyway, we are not talking about the tint, but the concept itself.
So basically an officers judgement can be taken for reasonable evidence?:(
Click to expand...

well, the question of window tint is not so much that you can see other drivers, but whether other drivers can see you. I mean, when you're driving along and you're wondering whether this guy is going to pull out in front of you, you're looking at him because you want to know if he's seen you. I think this is the rationale for limiting the degree of tint, though I could be wrong.

as for the officer's judgement, my uncle the former cop (in Virginia, no less), explained it thus: any citation or arrest generally involves an @ssload of paperwork and a court appearance, so it isn't worth their while to hassle an unsuspecting citizen; it just creates more work for them that they could easily have avoided. The judges and prosecutors know this, so when the cop actually goes through the trouble of doing something, the assumption is that it's justified.
 
I would think even if its obvious he has to have proof from the tint tool from when he cited you.

its like this downloading program you can get, where you download a program that converts files into text files, then you download other text files from people, put the text file into the program and it converts it into the original file, be it a movie, song, or software. its not illegal at all because your "technically" downloading text files even though its obvious your not.
its not hard to beat the system
its all technicalities, I think you should be able to get out of that.

also I've heard tint limit is also so when you get pulled over and the cop comes over he can see you through the windows, so when he gets over to you you don't pull a gun on him and shoot him.
 
*Y* said:
So basically an officers judgement can be taken for reasonable evidence?:(
Click to expand...
Yes.

Just like dangerous driving, resisting arrest, and any other call.

The officer makes a judgement call that it is sufficient to cite, then the judge will decide if the evidence presented is sufficient.

Which do you think Their Honour will believe:
"In my experience based on 15 years as a patrol officer, the tint was far darker than allowed by statute, driver was not visible, etc. etc."
or
"Yeah, it's an illegal tint but he didn't have the tool so nyah nyah nyah"

?
 
CanadaRAM said:
Yes.

Just like dangerous driving, resisting arrest, and any other call.

The officer makes a judgement call that it is sufficient to cite, then the judge will decide if the evidence presented is sufficient.

Which do you think Their Honour will believe:
"In my experience based on 15 years as a patrol officer, the tint was far darker than allowed by statute, driver was not visible, etc. etc."
or
"Yeah, it's an illegal tint but he didn't have the tool so nyah nyah nyah"

?
Click to expand...

You missed out 2 "nyah"s.
 
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