Window tint - the blind killer

[RG]

Apparently dark window tint is the new hotness in killing puppies, kittens and cyclists.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vic...-1225885515333

Originally Posted by Herald Sun

HEAVILY tinted cars are being blamed for hiking up the rate of crashes in Melbourne, with shaded cars under the police spotlight from today.

Illegally tinted vehicles will be targeted in an inner-city police roadblock today.

The Melbourne Traffic Management Unit is on the lookout for partly blinded drivers in inner-city Carlton.

Should heavy tints be banned? Vote in our poll and add your comments below

Operation Clear View follows a series of crashes involving heavily tinted cars, police said.

Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists were among those left hurt by drivers unable to see where they are going, the head of the operation Sen-Constable Steve Hillman said.

“We intend on checking a large number of vehicles for roadworthiness, in particular we will be checking the level of tint,'' he said.

He warned any cars considered unroadworthy risked a defect notice.

“We are serious about enhancing road safety for our vulnerable road users,” he said.

There has been a 44 per cent reduction in serious injury collisions in the CBD compared with the same six-month period last year, police said.

[chrisfpv]

What a joke, seriously!

[sleek7]

mmmmmmm During the day in my opinion there is no problem, but at night is where there could be trouble. I have had midnight express put on my last car (am yet to get my xr tinted) and during the day it was damn fabulous. But at night, I did notice it got a little more difficult to see out the side and rear windows - especially when looking via the rear or side mirrors. During a dark night, trying to back my car into the driveway became quite difficult because i simply couldn't see. Did the same thing in my old mans camry not long after (he has no tint) and thats where it became really obvious at how much the tint was limiting what i could see.
Personally I wouldnt go any darker than midnight express because at night it really does limit what you can see.

[RedHotGT]

If they were cracking down on unroadworthy cars and this is a particular area that they are 'canary-ing' cars for... fair enough...

but actually targeting dark tint.... 35% or darker... is an interesting strategy...

wonder if they will ban iPods in the CBD also - the amount of times i've nearly run someone down because they've stepped out in front of me with those damn earphones plugged in....

spose they've gotta look like they're doing something... with such an increase in the road-toll... obviously something has to change...

[Falcon Coupe]

Illegally tinted vehicles will be targeted in an inner-city police roadblock today.

Illegally tinted being the point here, those of us with "darkest legal" should not have a problem.

[sleek7]

Originally Posted by loftie

spose they've gotta look like they're doing something... with such an increase in the road-toll... obviously something has to change...

WE NEED MORE SPEE...erm SAFETY CAMERAS!

[pauljh74]

Their poll question is stupid "Should heavy car tinting be banned?" It already is! The point of the police operation is to nab drivers who have illegal tint. It works well in summer - car looks better, but in winter with the windows fogged up on a winter's night it becomes a problem.

[flappist]

Should wearing sunglasses be banned?

[mik]

on the other hand how many accidents occur from glare and loss of vision, probably not much in winter but in summer, surely it must be a 2 way street?

[RG]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

Illegally tinted being the point here, those of us with "darkest legal" should not have a problem.

The problem is how is a Police officer going to know what is darkest legal, it's all in what they perceive to be too dark.

[sarrge2001]

Originally Posted by RG

The problem is how is a Police officer going to know what is darkest legal, it's all in what they perceive to be too dark.

They have a test unit, which goes on either side of the window (about the size of a pack of smokes either side). One side transmits a known light level and the other measures the received light level.

The tester then compares the reading to the minimum light transmission allowable under the legislation.......

[DJL351]

Originally Posted by RG

The problem is how is a Police officer going to know what is darkest legal, it's all in what they perceive to be too dark.

In WA, the peeps in blue have a hand held tester.
They lower the windows 1/3 of the way down and place the glass/tint inside the tester.

It gives them a percentage of light passing through, from there, they can Yellow the car.

(trick is - over here there is only a few of the sensors/testers)

[superroo]

If they are doing it right, there is a card that has writing printed on it. Put it behind 35% tint and you can see the writing, any darker and you can't read it.

The guy who did my tint showed me it. Pretty easy/quick way to check.

Cheers

[RG]

Originally Posted by superroo

If they are doing it right, there is a card that has writing printed on it. Put it behind 35% tint and you can see the writing, any darker and you can't read it.

The guy who did my tint showed me it. Pretty easy/quick way to check.

Cheers

I didn't know that. Pretty awesome way of doing things.

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by superroo

If they are doing it right, there is a card that has writing printed on it. Put it behind 35% tint and you can see the writing, any darker and you can't read it.

The guy who did my tint showed me it. Pretty easy/quick way to check.

Cheers

I've also seen this method - its very basic and it works...

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by flappist

Should wearing sunglasses be banned?

Yep, so i dont trip over the poorly maintained footpaths with my illeaglly tinted sunnys

[irlewy86]

Operation Clear View?

Does VicPol have a room full of trained monkey's with typewriters where they think these operation names up?

[RedHotGT]

Almost as good as the Media outlets regarding the AFL suspension of Steven Baker for 12 weeks...

headline = Baker's Dozen...

Hahah ahahaha ahahha
Oh dear me...

[BENT_8]

Originally Posted by flappist

Should wearing sunglasses be banned?

Would you wear sunnies at night?

Therein lies the problem, sunnies work during the day and by night can be removed.
Tint works well during the day, but cant be removed at night.

With sunnies for glare reduction in mind, insulation is the only merit to using tint.
Imagine trying to argue the insulation theory if your car is black...

[galaxy xr8]

I don't have a problem with this at all, like has been mentioned they are targeting "illegal" tint, and ussually the one's with this "illegal" tint are so called "hoon's" anyway that give us driver's a bad name,
At night it is dangerous, I would gladly like to see them of the road, I mean let's face it, I would love to put a bet on how many of these vehicle's that actually get defected would be "ricer's" or people with an allready bad driving history.

[T3man]

I hope some of our NSW HWP cars don't venture over the border - some of them have darker than legal tint. Maybe they'll get defected and put off the road.

I agree that darker than legal is dangerous - this is why testing was done 20 years ago and an Australian Standards number issued to all legal film. Simple really, and if the cops had been doing their job properly from Day One than we wouldn't be having this debate now. But hang on; they've been too busy operating their radar units catching the speeding criminals to be worrying about whether drivers can see or not.

[RG]

Originally Posted by T3man

I hope some of our NSW HWP cars don't venture over the border - some of them have darker than legal tint. Maybe they'll get defected and put off the road.

I agree that darker than legal is dangerous - this is why testing was done 20 years ago and an Australian Standards number issued to all legal film. Simple really, and if the cops had been doing their job properly from Day One than we wouldn't be having this debate now. But hang on; they've been too busy operating their radar units catching the speeding criminals to be worrying about whether drivers can see or not.

Precisely!

Another interesting fact is that they are claiming that this is a safety issue and they are doing it to "save lives". Considering that window tint isn't a specific item taken into account (from my knowledge) when doing statistics I fail to see how they can claim that this is an issue.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Agree that overly dark tints are a very bad idea.

Just thinking out aloud... if the 'test kit' can be as simple as card with letters being placed either side of the glass could this not be part of a roadworthy inspection?

If you get done, you can then go and get the tints correctly tested using the light sensor device?

After all, they inspect a heap of other stuff that the police also watch out for.

[johnno3]

Originally Posted by BENT_8

Would you wear sunnies at night?

Therein lies the problem, sunnies work during the day and by night can be removed.
Tint works well during the day, but cant be removed at night.

With sunnies for glare reduction in mind, insulation is the only merit to using tint.
Imagine trying to argue the insulation theory if your car is black...

Agreed!! However there is no evidence that shows window tint has any insulation properties as far as internal cabin temperature is concerned (it makes zero difference ). Nor is there any evidence that it blocks harmful UV rays (no more than standard automotive glass). Add the fact that people can wear sunnies for glare makes window tint pure pose value only.

While some people seem to be giving the Police a hard time over this, what responsibility does the tint industry play in all this? If the tint companies didn't stock & sell & fit illegal tint, then this wouldn't be an issue

[BENT_8]

Good point, my car currently carries darker than legal tint.
When i booked the car in the tinter told me the one i chose was illegal and therefore wasnt warranted against defect notices, but was happy to apply it knowing it is illegal.
That doesnt release me from my responsibilities, but if the darker tint isnt on offer i cant ask for it.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by johnno3

Agreed!! However there is no evidence that shows window tint has any insulation properties as far as internal cabin temperature is concerned (it makes zero difference ). Nor is there any evidence that it blocks harmful UV rays (no more than standard automotive glass). Add the fact that people can wear sunnies for glare makes window tint pure pose value only.

While some people seem to be giving the Police a hard time over this, what responsibility does the tint industry play in all this? If the tint companies didn't stock & sell & fit illegal tint, then this wouldn't be an issue

Really?

I had tint added to my office windows and the inside temp dropped significantly.
I used to have 3 1982 lasers in my fleet that were all identical except one had tint. Guess which one was always cooler?

That is good enough evidence for me.

But just to be thorough I googled it and strangly the only place in the world where tinting does not work is.....wait for it....VICTORIA. You know Victoria, that place that actually has a negative number of road deaths every year due to the stategic placement of speed cameras every 10 feet but then ironicly budgets for everyone to speed at least twice a year to balance their spending sprees. Maybe there is not enough income from speed cameras so they need a new profit centre.

RACV are against it despite their sister groups in other states supporting it as are other Victorian "road safety experts".

We are constantly pressured to reduce energy use and tinting WILL reduce the load on the aircon and therefore use less fuel.

Last year RACQ commissioned some testing, obviously they are not in Victoria either.

http://www.racq.com.au/__data/assets...re_in_Cars.pdf

[UNR8D]

speed cameras on the blink again down south? seems like they are dreaming up new and better ways of a revenue stream.

on my IS300 I have T35 tint *tint a car darkest legal* all around inc the already privacy glassed rear and have zero issues in reversing/seeing at night, i suggest a few of you get your eyes checked.

Id like to see the direct link between tint and 'crashes' would have more to do with people not checking their mirrors or just generaly being oblivious to those around them... tint or no tint thats going to cause more accidents.

johnno3? have you ever been in a car before and directly after tint being done? every car that ive had tint on its been far more plesent in the cabbin after the tint being done and thats just by seat of the pants feel, ill walk naked down queen street if there wasnt a mesureable difference before/after.

[johnno3]

johnno3? have you ever been in a car before and directly after tint being done? every car that ive had tint on its been far more plesent in the cabbin after the tint being done and thats just by seat of the pants feel, ill walk naked down queen street if there wasnt a mesureable difference before/after.[/QUOTE]


Your seat of the pants feel is probably the placebo effect. Heat is caused by infrared, which most tint films do not filter. Most tints only filter visible light, which when conditions are right (or wrong), reduce visibility.
I've been involved in reviewing some test data on tests conducted on window tint (same model & colour of vehicle. One tinted, one not) & there was an initial difference of less than 2 degrees in internal cabin temperature & after 1 hour they equalised to be the same temp.
Form memory there was only 1 window film that was shown to have an effect on temperature. It was an industrial infrared film & it was clear!

[flappist]

Originally Posted by johnno3

johnno3? have you ever been in a car before and directly after tint being done? every car that ive had tint on its been far more plesent in the cabbin after the tint being done and thats just by seat of the pants feel, ill walk naked down queen street if there wasnt a mesureable difference before/after.

Your seat of the pants feel is probably the placebo effect. Heat is caused by infrared, which most tint films do not filter. Most tints only filter visible light, which when conditions are right (or wrong), reduce visibility.
I've been involved in reviewing some test data on tests conducted on window tint (same model & colour of vehicle. One tinted, one not) & there was an initial difference of less than 2 degrees in internal cabin temperature & after 1 hour they equalised to be the same temp.
Form memory there was only 1 window film that was shown to have an effect on temperature. It was an industrial infrared film & it was clear![/QUOTE]So you disagree with the demonstrated results from the RACQ tests?

You wouldn't be in Victoria and possibly work for a "road safety" group by any chance.......

[sleek7]

Test or no test, Tint in my old car made a difference.
Prior to my tint, finishing work in summer, parking in the same spot everyday I would leave the door open for half a min and watch the heat roll out, the steering wheel was also unbearably hot to touch (sun would come through driver side window onto wheel).
After getting the tint there was a notable difference in cabin temp and I although the wheel was still hot, it was not unbearable to hold onto.

The amount of heat from the sun was easily noticable when driving my GFs car to work (no tint) with the sun in the morning. I drive on a long stretch of road to work with the sun on the right that comes straight onto my arms and face through drivers side window.