Window Tinting: What's Legal And What's Not?
BALTIMORE (WJZ) - Cop cleared. Baltimore County police say their officer went by the book when he warned Ray Rice the windows on his SUV were too dark. Rice Tweeted he gave the officer an autograph but later insisted that came after the warning.
Mary Bubala reports that this incident has many wondering about window tinting. What's legal and what's not?
At D&L Professional Window Tinting in Parkville, about a dozen cars a day get their windows darkened. But how dark is too dark?
Owner Wes Gray has a display for his customers: "Fifty percent is 100 percent legal. Thirty-five percent puts you at about an eyelash over the legal limit with the dye that's already in the car. Twenty percent is equivalent to what comes on the back of an SUV from a factory. Five percent is limo film," Gray read from the sign.
Rice was worried about the dark tint on his Range Rover.
"I must get my tints fixed because they are pretty dark," Rice said.
The level of darkness that a window can legally be tinted in Maryland is 35 percent. Getting tinting corrected can cost hundreds of dollars.
Kurtis Hill is trying to get it right with his Mercedes, knowing he's close to the limit because the car already has tinting from the factory.
"I want to make sure its legal," Hill said. "It's expensive. I want to get the right one time."
Police are focused on the tinting of the SUV's front windows, not the back windows. Those, according to D&L can be any level of darkness. Officers want to make sure they can see inside the vehicle and see the driver.
