Tinted front windows are common, but illegal
Q. Hi, Honk: I work in a kiosk for a park. I see many newer vehicles with completely tinted front windshields. It appears the tinting is factory installed and not aftermarket. I have never seen this, just started recently. I was wondering if it’s legal. Some of the windshields are so dark you cannot see the driver or passenger.
– Yvette Sanville, San Clemente
A. The front windshield and the side windows in the front can’t have more than a smidgen of tinting, which the factory likely added already.
No such regulations on back windows.
John DeMatteo, an officer and spokesman for the California Highway Patrol out of the Santa Ana office, said what you are seeing is likely not factory tinting and is definitely illegal.
DeMatteo pointed out the California Vehicle Code doesn’t give automakers any break on this. But car manufacturers like to sell lots of product in California, and Honk would bet the Honkmobile’s pink slip that they make cars, trucks and motorcycles following the California Vehicle Code.
Darken windows in the front are bad for various reasons.
A local CHP officer often writes citations for tinting, because he went to the scene of a bad accident and figured the driver couldn’t see the pedestrian who was struck very well because of tinting.
Officers don’t like to walk up to cars and trucks they’ve pulled over and not be able to see the driver. Would you?
“It’s harder for drivers at night to see,” Officer DeMatteo added.
Still, that violation isn’t a major concern of most officers – for proof, just consider all of the darkened front windows out on the roadways.
Q. I recently received a ticket in the mail from the 91 Express Lanes for driving my motorcycle on the tollway. The sign indicated HOV vehicles were permitted, so I entered the Express Lanes. I know motorcycles are permitted to ride in regular carpool lanes. The ticket indicated that I needed a transponder. But why should I be forced to open an account and get a transponder if I don’t intend to otherwise use the tollway?
– David Boshnack, Irvine
A. In the end, it’s because the Express Lanes doesn’t have the technology to allow riders and drivers to hop onto the tollway without transponders.
How the 91 Express Lanes determines tolls is great – it’s based on math: When the number of vehicles rises for a particular time period, the price goes up to ensure the lanes don’t get too crowded. And, yes, when the number goes down, so does the price.
So the Orange County Transportation Agency needs to know how many vehicles are out there, and the transponders calculate that. The agency does not have the technology, such as license-plate readers, which could likely do the calculations.
Further, there is a small window when motorcycles are charged on the 91 Express Lanes, albeit at half-price.
David, the tollway can detect vehicles without transponders, like yours, and then grab photos of the license-plate numbers. But the numbers of violators aren’t forwarded to the transponder system, apparently.
But it would take more than just updated technology – which very well might not be worth the cost.
Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority that owns the tollway, said that the state Legislature requires all California toll systems to use transponders unless they are granted a waiver, so the 91 Express Lanes would have to get one, which indeed some toll roads have received.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.