Philadelphia Parking Authority begins ticketing cars with illegal tint on windows
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Drivers with illegally tinted car windows can now receive parking tickets in Philadelphia, thanks to a bill Mayor Cherelle Parker signed into law in May.
Driving a car with illegally tinted windows was already illegal in Pennsylvania, but the new ordinance allows the Philadelphia Parking Authority to ticket parked cars with darkened windows. Violators will be fined $100.
Councilmember Mike Driscoll, who represents the 6th district, sponsored the legislation, which City Council passed unanimously.
The new policy prohibits parking a vehicle with a "sun screening device," which includes any material that, if used while driving the car, would violate Pennsylvania law, according to Driscoll's office. State law requires vehicle windows to permit 70% of light contacting the window to pass through it.
While factory tinting complies with this threshold, tinting done by independent installers often does not, Driscoll's office said.
"Illegally tinted windows are a real threat to law-abiding Philadelphians," Driscoll said in a statement. "From a traffic safety perspective, we often rely on visual cues from other drivers in making decisions such as when to proceed through a stop sign, merge or make a turn. If I can't see the other driver, the absence of that cue can be dangerous."
The danger is "magnified" when it comes to law enforcement, he added.
"With excessive tinting, an innocuous action is more easily interpreted [as] reaching for a weapon or doing something with the intent to harm," Driscoll said.
Parker has made cracking down on quality-of-life crimes and improving public safety a centerpiece of her administration. Last month she signed into law bills that ban skill games and devices that hide license plates and one that set a curfew for some businesses in Kensington.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia police in recent months have vowed to crack down on illegal dirt bikes and ATVs in the city this spring and summer and have started towing abandoned cars.
"Illegally tinted windows conceal potential threats and impede law enforcement investigations, threatening public safety," Parker said in a statement. "From Day 1, I've been clear that public safety is my number one priority as your mayor, so I am proud to sign Councilmember Driscoll's legislation into law, cracking down on illegally tinted windows."