How to get permission to tint your front windows

Is it possible to obtain permission to tint and how?

Today, the fight against tinting in our country is becoming increasingly tougher - immediately after the cancellation of license plates for tinted windows, so-called demands or orders to eliminate the violation were used, after which drivers were imprisoned for up to 15 days. Moreover, a change is coming in the legislation to toughen penalties for tinting windows “not in accordance with GOST”, up to and including deprivation of rights. But this is in the future, and now we will consider the issue of permitted tinting, namely, the opportunity to earn money for health reasons, buy or otherwise obtain permission to tint in 2019.

The issue is that in some cases and certain categories of drivers, for a variety of reasons, exceptions to the law can be allowed, and there are such exceptions in a variety of other aspects of the law. So, let's answer the question whether and how you can get a special permit for tinting, what law governs this, is it available to mere mortal drivers and what is needed for this in 2019.

Permission to tint - method No. 1:

Firstly, the easiest way to get permission to tint is to tint “according to GOST”. The fact is that tinting in our country is not prohibited in principle (except for mirror tinting), but there are standards for light transmittance and what kind of glass is allowed to be tinted. Namely, the front “hemisphere” can be tinted so that it transmits at least 70% of all light. This, of course, is very little, taking into account the fact that already from the factory the light transmittance of glass (and it is not even tinted) is 85-95%. Literally, the glass will become only a little darker, and if your goal when tinting is to become invisible, to significantly hide from the sun, then this legal method will not suit you.

However, if your goal is to protect yourself from the summer heat and apply athermal film, then we have good news for you - a number of athermal films (but not all) are tested for light transmittance.

Thus, you already have a kind of permission to tint - it is provided by law with the only compelling condition that the tint must transmit 70% of the light into the car.

Permission to tint - method No. 2:

Another method is much less effective, but, in any case, more useful than simply tinting the car and driving like that. The method is to know the loopholes in the legislation due to the “holes”, and there are plenty of them. We will not cite here all the shortcomings of Russian legislation regarding tinting that allow it one way or another, we will only note that they are all divided into main categories:

1. Shortcomings in basic laws: traffic rules, administrative code . Thus, the Traffic Rules, when tinting is permitted, refers us to GOST 5727-88, which has long lost force, and in general GOSTs became optional after the introduction of Technical Regulations. The same Code of Administrative Offenses in the article with punishment for tinting (12.5.3.1) refers to a document called “ Technical Regulations for the Safety of Wheeled Vehicles ,” which has also lost force, and in its place is a document similar in content, but already called “ Technical Regulations” Customs Union for the safety of wheeled vehicles ." And there are many more such shortcomings.
2. Shortcomings in the procedures for determining light transmittance themselves .
   Thus, the determination device must have a verification certificate, and the measurement must be carried out strictly according to the instructions for the device. In fact, it is because of procedural errors in the glass measurement process that errors are made among inspectors, which can lead to the cancellation of the decision. In addition, there are a number of “life hacks” that cease to work over time and are replaced by others during the measurement process. For example, remove the removable tint while the inspector goes to get the device, lower the windows and declare that the window regulator is broken, and so on.
3. Cancellation of decisions upon expiration of deadlines in court . Here it is a little more complicated and simpler at the same time - you are simply stalling for time through various types of petitions, challenges, and so on, and it becomes impossible to prosecute for tinting for the simple reason that the statute of limitations has expired.

It should be clearly noted here that, firstly, you will not learn these methods in two or three days or even in two or three weeks. Rather, you will have to learn full-fledged legal knowledge in order to be able to operate the laws in your favor, because we must not forget that you are violating and you must prove the opposite, which is quite difficult. Second, judges and police officers are not stupid, and both of these government officials are allowed to make decisions about guilt based on their personal beliefs, which means that minor procedural errors are unlikely to play a significant role in appealing a tint ruling.

Well, in the end, it is worth noting that this is not permission to tint as such - it is only an opportunity to defend your rights in the event of a mutual violation by government officials.

There is also another hypothetical way to get permission for tinting - to have a “blat” in the traffic police, and among the highest ranks. We will not discuss this method due to its illegality and, of course, mythical nature. However, there is an opinion that, having received “connections” in the structures, it is possible to obtain permission to tint.

There are no other legal ways to buy or otherwise obtain permission to tint from the traffic police.

Previously, another myth spread: supposedly, if you get a certificate from a doctor stating that the driver has a special eye disease with impaired vision and pain in the eyes due to bright sunlight, then with such a certificate you will be allowed to tint the car. However, in 2019 this is indeed a myth, and it will be impossible to obtain permission to tint car windows with such a certificate. And there is some logic in this - after all, to solve the problem of immunity to bright sunlight, it is enough to wear sunglasses.

Bill on tinting

A huge number of car owners in Russia watched as the bill was submitted for consideration and the law on tinting came into force. Everyone was interested in exactly what changes to the traffic rules the new amendments to the law on tinting would make, and how this would affect the ability to tune their iron horse. Many were also waiting for the decision of deputies regarding whether a tax would be introduced on certain types of car tinting.

Nowadays, tinting cars is quite a fashionable and practical solution, which is why many people pinned their hopes on the bill on tinting.

Car tinting according to GOST

However, what is the essence of the problem? Why is this action limited by the law on tinting? Everything is very simple. The fact is that excessive tinting quite often causes accidents on the road. When drivers of cars with too dark tints find themselves in a situation where a traffic accident could theoretically occur, they react to external stimuli at a slower rate.

Excessive tinting does not allow you to see some details of the surrounding world, which distorts car drivers’ understanding of the situation on the road and makes their reaction slower.

That’s why this kind of tuning is regulated by traffic rules, as well as GOST and a special law on tinting car windows.

Tinted glass

What car tinting is allowed?

As of March 2016, the rules for tinting car windows are as follows:

1. Tinting of any car windows is allowed, but this rule is valid only if the light transmittance of the part is at least 75%.
2. According to the law on tinting, the rear window of a vehicle, as well as its rear side windows, can be 100% tinted.
3. According to the law on tinting, the car owner has the right to stick a transparent tinting film on the top of the car's windshield for sun protection.
4. The use of mirror film, according to the law on tinting, is prohibited in any form or form.

Light transmission standards for car windows

These rules raise a number of questions for car owners. For example, everyone is interested in what is the maximum width of the strip of light-protective film that can be glued to the top of the windshield.

If we are talking about a passenger car, then the width of the protective strip should not exceed 14 centimeters. However, it should be noted that inspectors always measure the width of this strip in three places (as stated in the law on tinting), and then calculate the arithmetic average of the three values.

Light protection strip on the windshield

Also quite common is the question of whether a driver will be subject to sanctions under the law on tinting if he covers the windows of his vehicle with a film whose light transmittance is exactly 70%. Unfortunately, it will most likely get hit. This is due to the fact that clean car windows themselves have a certain percentage of light transmittance. As a rule, it ranges from 95 to 97% percent. Accordingly, after covering the glass with a film, the light transmittance coefficients of both materials are multiplied and make the coating darker.

So if you don’t want to be fined for violating the law on tinting, always leave a margin of a few percent when tinting your car - this will definitely protect you from non-compliance with traffic rules.

It should also be taken into account that most light transmittance measuring instruments used by law enforcement officials may be subject to inaccuracy, which is much more likely to occur if used incorrectly. Therefore, traffic police officers, according to the law on tinting, must take at least 3 measurements in different parts of the glass, and then calculate the arithmetic average.

Permission to tint

Many car owners are very interested in the issue of obtaining special permission to tint a vehicle. You can quite often see cars driving through the streets whose tinting clearly does not comply with the law. Information about such violators is immediately entered into the appropriate information database.

However, special permission for arbitrary vehicle tinting can still be issued and obtained. Many car owners would even agree to pay a special tax in order to also receive such a license, but this is still useless.

According to the law on tinting, this opportunity can only be obtained by employees of various government services, who during their work may require a vehicle with exactly these characteristics. However, obtaining such permission for a civilian is an impossible task.

It is also worth noting that permission for unlimited window tinting can be obtained by a special-purpose vehicle, but not by any ordinary passenger car.

Percentage of light transmittance of tinting film

Penalties for improper vehicle tinting

In 2016, changes to the technical regulations on the safety of wheeled vehicles and traffic rules were adopted and entered into force, which, in particular, affected several points related to tinting. Including:

• for using tinting with reduced light transmission, too wide a protective strip on the windshield, as well as mirror tinting, the driver will have to pay a fine of 500 Russian rubles. This is also provided for in Part 3 of Article 12 of the Code of Administrative Offences;
• For the use of a tinting film with too low light transmittance, for the presence of an excessively wide sun protection strip on the windshield, as well as for the repeated use of mirror tinting, law enforcement officers had the right to remove the license plates from any passenger vehicle. Yes, they “had”, since the law on tinting provided for such a punishment in the period from July 1, 2012 to November 15, 2014. Subsequently, this change was completely abolished, and the law on tinting became the same as before.

It should also be noted that, according to the law on glass tinting, the fine for violating traffic rules and standards for light transmission, the width of the strip on the top of the glass, as well as the presence of a mirror film on the glass in any situation will be exactly 500 rubles. This amount does not depend on the severity of the violation: for the one who exceeded the norm by 1%, and for the one who exceeded the norm by 50%, the punishment will be identical.

Violation of the law is punishable by a fine

You don’t have to worry about removing license plates and prohibiting the operation of a particular vehicle due to violation of the law on tinting - they completely stopped using it two years ago.

FAQ

Drivers who have already been charged with violating the law on car tinting are trying to come up with new ways out of the current situation. As a result, many are interested in questions such as:

• Will it be considered that I violated the law on tinting and traffic rules if I remove the film immediately after law enforcement officers stopped me? Unfortunately, it will. This is due to the fact that penalties are imposed for the fact that the driver was driving a vehicle with an increased level of reflective glass. Thus, if you tear off the film immediately after being detained, the fact that you were driving an illegally tinted car will still remain reliable.

Violation of car tinting rules

• Are more serious penalties possible if the film is removed from the windows immediately after law enforcement officers issue a fine. If you remove the illegal film from the windows, the cause of the offense will be automatically eliminated, and therefore the traffic police officers will not have any questions or complaints about you, not to mention the likelihood of confiscation of vehicle license plates. However, if you ignore the request to remove excess tint, you may have serious problems in the future.
• Can removable car window tinting help? Theoretically, it can. However, it will not save you from a fine if law enforcement officers record its presence on the windows of your vehicle. However, if you manage to quickly remove it and return the registration plates to the glass, the inspector simply will not be able to present anything to you due to the complete lack of evidence and will conclude that the law permitting tinting was not violated.
• Is it possible to appeal the decision of the traffic police if I am sure that I did not violate the rules? Of course you can. Moreover, situations quite often occur when the owner of the vehicle wins the case. Such appeals are carried out exclusively in court, and therefore it is advisable for you to begin collecting evidence for your defense right at the place of your arrest.

Fine for tinting in 2019

Good afternoon, dear reader.

This article will talk about the features of car tinting in 2019 and 2020, as well as possible penalties for applying tinting film to the glass.

In addition, we’ll talk about permitted tinting, which can be used legally without fear of fines.

Allowed tint in 2020?

So, first, let’s look at what kind of car window tinting is allowed in 2019:

Width of tint strip on windshield

The first question that quite often interests drivers is the maximum width of the tinting strip on the top of the windshield. For passenger cars it is 14 centimeters .

Using film with 70% light transmittance

The second popular question is whether the driver will be fined for tinting if a film is applied to the windshield and front side windows, the light transmittance of which is exactly 70 percent.

To answer this question, one should take into account the fact that the light transmission of glass even in a new car does not reach 100 percent.

Let's look at an example. If the light transmission of the new glass is 95 percent, and the tinting film is 70 percent, then the final light transmission is calculated by the formula:

0.95 * 0.7 = 0.665 i.e. 66.5%

In practice, it does not matter whether a film is glued to the glass that transmits 70 percent or transmits 5 percent of light. Both options are the same violation and carry the same penalty.

Permitted tinting of front windows

Tinting the windshield and front side windows in itself is not prohibited. In this case, the only condition that must be taken into account is that the light transmission of tinted glass must be more than 70 percent .

In this case, you can try using a film with a light transmission of 85 to 95 percent.

Note. If you want to be sure that the tinting complies with current legislation, then after gluing the film, check the light transmission with a special device. Car service centers that specialize in working with car glass usually have such devices.

How to get permission to tint?

There is a common myth among drivers that in Russia it is possible to obtain a special permit for tinting , which allows you to tint your car with any film you like. The legislation does not provide for anything like this.

Note. If you see a tinted car on the street, this does not mean that its driver has a special permit. Most likely, the driver simply did not have time to get caught by the traffic police.

Fines for car tinting

In 2020, for illegal tinting of car windows, a driver can only be fined in the amount of 500 rubles (Part 3 1 of Article 12.5 of the Administrative Code).

Note. The specified fine can be paid with a 50 percent discount.

The size of the fine for tinting does not depend on how much light transmission the car’s windows have, nor on how many glasses the tinting film is applied to. In any case, it is 500 rubles.

In addition to the fine, traffic police officers may issue an order to remove the tint.

Note. Until November 15, 2014, traffic police officers could remove license plates from a car for tinting, but in 2020 this type of punishment is not used.

What happens if.

. remove the tint immediately after being stopped by a traffic police officer.

If you remove the tint film immediately after the car is stopped by a traffic police officer, a fine for tint will still be imposed on the driver, because The fine is a punishment for driving a car with insufficient light transmission. In this case, driving takes place until the moment the car is stopped.

. remove the tint immediately after the fine is issued.

If the driver removes the tint immediately after the traffic police officer draws up a resolution to impose an administrative fine, then he will be able to avoid repeated penalties for the same violation. If the tint is not removed, then the next time the traffic police stops the driver will receive a new fine. The number of fines is not limited.

. use removable window tinting.

Removable window tinting does not protect the driver from fines. However, its use will allow you, if necessary, to quickly clear the glass and avoid repeated fines for the same violation.

Finally, I suggest you watch a video in which the tint film is removed using water vapor:

If you wish, you can repeat this procedure and clean the film from your car windows yourself.

Tinted front windows are allowed - is that true?

Is tinting allowed?

The answer to this question is quite ambiguous, despite its apparent simplicity. No, no changes in legislation regarding permission to tint front windows have been planned and are not planned. But let’s try to understand this issue more clearly, but in detail!

Is tinting allowed for 2019?

Yes. Allowed, but not everything is so clear.

If we are talking about news that has appeared on the Internet that some new law has allegedly been issued, which one way or another lifts the ban on tinting car windows, then there is simply no such law. It is impossible to prove its absence, so we can only suggest looking for its presence in the current legislation. But we regularly monitor changes in regulations and can safely say that as of December 6, 2019, there were no innovations and are not yet expected.

However, the subtlety lies in the fact that tinting as such has never been prohibited at all - even the front hemisphere of car windows. The exception is mirror tinting, which, on the contrary, was almost always prohibited.

So, tinting may be permissive, but what is it?

It is possible to darken the windows of the front of the car, but the only question is light transmittance and how to drive such a car. Simply put, the issue is the very letter of the law. And, according to the collection of these letters that make up the syllables and in the subsequent sentence, you are allowed to:

• Tint the car windows at least 100%, completely seal them with an opaque film, or at worst, cover them with plywood. But all this is provided that you do not drive a car - operation and driving with tinting is prohibited, but also not with any
• You can drive a car with tinted front windows if their light transmittance remains at least 70% - that is, they transmit through themselves (in any direction) at least 70 percent of the light trying to pass through such windows.

There is just a significant nuance - resolving tinting, which provides legal light transmittance, is not actually tinting at all - it will be useless for you in its main purpose - to darken the windows. The truth is that even athermal film does not always provide light transmission above the specified percentage.

For example, here is a wonderful Tesla car with an example of permitted tinting with a light transmittance above 70%

Everything is very simple! The very fact of driving a car comes from traffic rules, which should be elementary for us as drivers. In particular, the Appendix to the traffic rules “ List of faults for which the operation of a car ” states that:

7.3. Additional objects have been installed or coatings have been applied that restrict visibility from the driver's seat.

That is, it is the operation of the car that is prohibited under such conditions.

And the Administrative Code, which provides for a fine for tinting, also speaks about management:

3.1. Driving a vehicle with glass (including glass covered with transparent colored films) whose light transmission does not meet the requirements of the technical regulations on the safety of wheeled vehicles is subject to an administrative fine of five hundred rubles.

What about 70%? As we can see, the Code of Administrative Offenses refers us to the Technical Regulations - the latter regulates the technical component of the car design and various components and additions to vehicles. In particular, Appendix 8 of the TR establishes the requirements for vehicles in operation, and section 4 of it tells us the following:

4.3. The light transmission of the windshield and windows through which forward visibility is provided to the driver must be at least 70%.

In fact, we find that tinting is permitted and has always been permitted.

When will all these restrictions be lifted?

The question is complex. And according to the state of affairs for 2019, it should be more like rhetorical - tinting is unlikely to ever be allowed. Most likely, never, given the fact that in recent years the legislation on tinting has only become more stringent.

Innovations regarding the simplification of legislation regarding the permission to darken car windows have never been considered or introduced for discussion at any level of legislative power.

I am tinted illegally, what awaits me?

As we mentioned above, tinting was not allowed, and the legislation on our topic is constantly becoming stricter. And, if you are not yet aware of all the cunning practice of law enforcement of penalties for drivers of tinted cars, then the following may make you abandon such an idea once and for all, probably in favor of sunglasses, which are not prohibited.

So, for 2019, if you are tinted outside the law (glasses with film block more than 30% of light), then you may be faced with:

All this is not some kind of theory, but a practice that is used everywhere - in all regions of the country. On the contrary, a number of these penalties and measures to ensure that motorists have their cars cleared are contrary to the current law.

How is resolution tint determined correctly?

A logical question - if a certain light transmittance of glass is allowed, then how does the inspector determine it, not by eye?! That’s right, he determines it with a special measuring device.

Contrary to popular belief, there are no uniform requirements for measurements. People often discuss on the Internet that air humidity should not be higher than a certain level, that tint cannot be measured in the rain, that there is a permitted temperature range, and so on. Naturally, all this is without reference to legal acts. And without references, because not a single GOST, Technical Regulations or other regulatory documents regulate the mentioned measurement criteria. Although, there are still requirements.

Only one document regulates the measurement rules - the technical documentation of a specific device. If, according to the technical characteristics, it is not allowed to measure glass at temperatures below –40℃, for example, then this cannot be done, and the measurement results obtained in this way in violation of the rules are not subject to being evidence when considering the case, in accordance with Part 3 of Art. 26.2 Code of Administrative Offences.

You can find technical documentation for a specific device by simply searching by its name on the Internet.

By the way, this device must also have a verification certificate with an unexpired expiration date - that is, the device for measuring tint has passed all the necessary checks of its performance and calibration.