fast4popper Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I'm generally not one to bitch but here is a story I have to tell you all and let me know what you think. My wife and I were on the way home from the hardware store tonight and I figured I would show her the house boat that I just finished wiring for Home theater install (nice boat). it was out of our way but we were rid of the kid for the weekend and had nothing better to do. ON our way home from the boat we took a few back roads to enjoy the scenery, when I looked behind me there were the lights of an unmarked Iowa state trooper. I pulled over as I should and was more than polite to him, I mean why piss him off right.? any way he proceeded to look at my truck and told me that he pulled me over for window tint. At this time he was reaching his hand into my truck and proceeding to try and fell the window tint on the windshield, I have (had) the whole windshield tinted with 35% film. he themn asked for insurance and such and then asked if I have ever been pulled over for tint before. I told him yes in my other car, his responce was "well you wont be driving this one any further tonight" At this time he went back to his car and wrote me a ticket which started to take forever. about 45 minutes later a flatbed pulls up and backs in front of the SS. the cop finally came up and I asked what he was doing, he told me that the truck was unsave to drive and that he was impounding it. I told him he wasnt and if he did he could make my payment this month. he then proceeded to have me sign my ticket and told me how to get it out of impound. at this time I was talkign to the tow truck driver and my wife was asking the cop how to get the truck out on Monday morning. the cop did not have an answer. all he said was the windshield tint has to come off before you can drive it. as this time I caught the end of it and reached into the truck with my finger nail and peeled the tint off with one pull. I looked at him and said "is it safe to drive now?" he said yes you can drive it now but you have to pay the towtruck driver. I cant blame the towtruck guy so I paid him and right in front of the cop gave him a tip and told him to go and have a few beers "on me" tonight. I then went to the back of the truck and proceeded to load the stuff that i had taken out because I wanted to continue the remodels to the house that I was doing and I had supplies and tools that I had taken out and put on the ground. the cop then proceeded to ask me if my tonno cover was water tight. I told him " I dont F--ing know I dont sleep back there" and then asked him if I could leave and he said yes. I have a court date on the 23rd of june that I will be at, with a lawyer, I will get my tow truck fees back and also will get this "un safe equipt ticket" reduced to a tint ticket. Does anyone have any insight on this? is window tint a impoundable ticket?? this cop in my opinion was throwing hiw authoriity around, mind you I was nice till I saw that tow truck show up. then I went nuts! also I am not a punk kid, I am 32 years old and did not deserve this BS! what do you all think? sorry for the typoes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOLSTEIN Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 in high school i once had a 92 s10 ex cab 4.3 w/ 5% all the way around and 35% on the front... a wv state trooper pulled me over going to work one evening, said i passed him one time in his civilian car and he remembered my truck..... any way he was real cool and said he would much rather have kids spend there money on vehicles than drugs.... warning ticket, and had to prove window tint was removed by going to hdqtrs the next day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A"SS" Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 That sucks POWER TRIP. Good luck in court. But I do need to ask why would you want the whole windshield tinted? It is already hard enough to avoid pot holes and crap like that Day or Night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fast4popper Posted May 23, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 That sucks POWER TRIP. Good luck in court. But I do need to ask why would you want the whole windshield tinted? It is already hard enough to avoid pot holes and crap like that Day or Night. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> try it, youll LOVE it!! no more bright sun, also it is easier to see out of than if you just have the sides tinted, no more glare, and no more headaches from going bright to dark. BTW, I will have it tinted again by the time I get off of work tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2drTahoe Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Gee... maybe that tow truck driver should be out helping people with flats. Maybe people that broke down in bad neighborhoods. Maybe that cop should be looking out for crimes in those bad neighborhoods. I'll settle for at least handing out speeding tickets, since that does cause accidents. What a waste of resources for window tint. This story is scary, I want to tint my front window too because of these new brighter tailights and those damn blue lights. If I saw a tow truck pulling up I'd freak out. I don't even like valets. Maybe I'll pass on the tinting. The tonneau bit was hilarious. Is a tonneau standard equipment on a truck?!? no! then piss off. You know you could believe the cop was in the right until he asked a stupid question like that thanks for the laugh and the warning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IdriveGTP Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I own a glass shop (I don't do tint), but the only thing I can tell you about tint on a w/s is that you are not supposed to have anything lower that the little mark on the glass (look for it on one of the sides - it usually has a little line and an arrow)....good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaotik1 Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Window tint is legal if, 1 your state allows it, and 2 if it is within limits.. Windshield tint however is not legal, unless you have bad eye sight and a doctors not that would allow you to tint. The only problem with that is there are marks on the windshield as to where you can tint to. So, if you wear eye glasses go see your eye doctor and have him write you a note, and that should solve that part of your issue.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dumpedv8 Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 i have been pulled over for window tint more times than i can count!! i had one local sargent try to take my license and add 2 ponits to my record becuase he wrote the ticket up for "unsafe vehicle". i went to court and the judge didnt even know what the code was and when he asked my i said for window tint. the said "what the hell was he thinking" then "$20 have a great day son and nice truck" i said thanks!! some cops have the "small penis complex"!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliteAutoToyz Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Over here in NY its kinda the norm to see tinted shields but if they pull us over its a ticket not a tow truck but i do now over here we can get a document from DMV to have all the glass fully tinted any shade look into it and good luck in court heres a pic of 35% on my shield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterp Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 That was real big of you to tip the tow truck driver. Well, I've not had a run-in with the law over tint before. And I would ask your attorney but I think that you are out the tow truck fees, unless the judge agrees with you in that it was an unnecessary stop plus there exists codes on the books that give a way for you to recover your costs because of it plus you bring your ripped-out tint with you to court to show that you were not in violation of the law (but I am assuming from your story that your front windshield was citable). I would bet though that given a decent attorney you can get the incident dropped even if you are out the tow fees. In my career as a 'gross offender' this is my insight - you need to appear to everyone from here on out that you are a responsible self-reliant person that keeps their shit in order, the kind of person a judge would look up to. If the judge comes to believe that you are responsible (by nature) and that you live your life taking very prompt care of your personal business and obligations he will probably agree that it was a mistake for an officer of the court (the arrogant cop) to be hassling you (an upstanding responsible member of the community). But if you appear or are painted as irresponsible in any possible way he will make you wear that ticket. That's a bit vague I hope you get my drift... Mr. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmesSS Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 That's crazy. Where in Iowa was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan06SS Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Damn that sux... Cali law is that tint is always just a fix-it ticket... you can practically spraypaint all your glass black and the worst they can do is write you a fix it... and most cops around here won't even do that. Sounds like the cop was just jealous... go thru the right channels... get your money back and that'll be satisfaction enough. GOOD LUCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d_a_n_payne Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 I just got pulled over for my 5% and he pulled it off. I got it back on two days later. The cop also told me that next time he will give me a ticket and pull it off. Can he do that? I was told by a prelaw major that he could only do one of the two, do yall know? And about that document from the DMV, do you just go up there and ask for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChevySSandChevy8.1 Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 That is definately rough, I agree that that cop was making a big deal of it, it usually is a just a ticket for tint, no need for a whole impounding of the vehicle. Go through the court process and hopefully get some cash back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted May 23, 2005 Report Share Posted May 23, 2005 Shield tint sounds like it would be cool during bright days, but it's not always bright. Pretty sure it's illegal in every state, although some may allow exceptions. He may have not handled it the best, but he was within his right to issue you the ticket. Whether or not the towing stuff was right will depend on the judge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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