More Controversy Over Window-Tinting Ticket-Writing Campaign
Window tinters and troopers are at odds over what the law means.
Mary Tobin is one of the people caught in the middle. Tobin got a $101 ticket for her tinted windows, and she came right back to the place that applied the film.
"Because when I came in to get my windows tinted, I said I wanted them as dark as they could be and the comment was they can only be so dark according to the laws," she explained.
Tobin asked for the darkest tint allowed by law, and according to Rudy Falsis of Bellevue's Mr. Tint and Sun, that's what she got.
"So we're reading at 29 percent (of light getting through)," Falsis says as he holds a light meter to her window. "In the RCW (state law), it says the very minimum is 24 percent. So we're well above that."
When Falsis says the law allows 24 percent, he means at least a quarter of the light must get through the window.
But the State Patrol has a drastically different interpretation. Troopers say you must let at least 65 percent of the light through.
Troopers started cracking down two weeks ago, and have written well over a hundred tickets.
They insist it's a matter of safety. Police need to be able to see into a car when they pull someone over.
But the tickets have sparked confusion and anger -- both for drivers and window tinters who believe the Patrol is getting it wrong.
Jaime Knutson is a window tinting sales representative with Madico. He's also involved with an industry group called the International Window Film Association.
"Definitely we need to get in contact with the State Patrol and work on educating them on what the law states," says Knutson. "Educating them on how to read the light meters."
The Patrol insists troopers have already had that training, that they've talked to the courts, and they stand by their interpretation of the law. Still because of all the questions, the Patrol will keep researching the law.
"Oh, I'm fighting it," says Mary Tobin. "I'm going to get a court date. I'm not gonna pay it."
Mary Tobin believes her windows are legal. The State Patrol says they're not.
A judge will decide who's right.
By the way, the law in question only applies to front driver and passenger side windows. Thus, vans and SUVs, for example, can have darker windows in the back.
You can read the full text of the law at this link