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Re: Tint in Pennsylvania
Why Window Tinting is Legal In Pennsylvania?
Window Tinting is Legal in Pennsylvania because neither the Statute, which the legislature has enacted according to the will of the people, nor the Regulation, which the Administration has passed to clarify the law, prohibit it.
TITLE 75 Section 4524 (e)(1) of the Pennsylvania Common Statutes states that
(1) No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sun screening device or other material which does not permit a person to see or view the inside of the vehicle through the windshield, side wing or side window of the vehicle.
Note that the law only prohibits tinting which prevents a person from seeing or viewing the inside of the vehicle. It does not prohibit all tinting or tinting below 70%.
The Law therefore implicitly permits any tinting which does not prevent a person from seeing or viewing the inside of the vehicle.
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IS SAFETY WINDOW FILM WITH TRANSMITTANCE LESS THAN 70% LEGAL IN PENNSYLVANIA?
Here's a quick reference chart that shows the various arguments about whether tint below 70% is legal in Pennsylvania.
It's up to you to decide whether we are ruled by Statutes, Laws, Federal Safety Standards, and State Inspection Regulations, on the one hand, or by Safety Bulletins, Newspaper Articles, and New Table Xs on the other.
YES
These are the LAWs that say such tinting is legal.
NO
These are the apparent 'authorities' cited by some PA Police that tint less than 70% is illegal.
TITLE 75 of PA STATUTES - 4524 (e)(1) - This is the LAW passed by our legislators and it does NOT prohibit tint unless it "does not permit a person to see or view the inside of the vehicle through the windshield, side wing or side window of the vehicle." SAFETY BULLETIN - This was sent to Inspection Stations years ago. It has lots of capital letters and asterisks and makes safety recommendations.
PA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE TITLE 67 - CHAPTER 175.67 (d)(4) - These rules and regulations were written to clarify the laws. The PA Code only prohibits tint "unless otherwise permitted by FMVSS No. 205." OCT 1996 - Another SAFETY BULLETIN for Inspections Stations to share with their customers. It includes a new TABLE X.
A Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, FMVSS No. 205 clearly permits tint below 70%. Read it! After all, most States require conformance with FMVSS205, but still permit tinting as low as 25%. The neat New TABLE X included with the above Safety Bulletin. Don't get it confused with the original Table X that is part of the Inspection Requirements.
In either case The PA CODE (see d 4) specifically excludes any tint "permitted by FMVSS No. 205" from the requirements of Table X.
PA INSPECTION REGULATIONS - PA Inspection Regulation do not prohibit tint below 70%. Inspection Station cannot reject a vehicle with legal tint. The PA Bulletin is a legal newspaper. Here they discuss various recent changes to the PA CODE, none of which prohibit tint permitted by FMVSS205.
Most of the other States explicitly allow transmittances as low as 25%, yet still require conformance with FMVSS205. Certainly they aren't ALL wrong in their interpretation of FMVSS205. Who needs all the laws and regulations on the left anyway? Some officers just "enforce Table X," although it's not clear which Table X they're refering to.
Since all the PA Statutes or Regulations permit tinting below 70%, then it IS NOT ILLEGAL.
Even the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, speaking on behalf of the Secretary of Transportation, agrees that nothing in the PA STATUTE, the PA CODE, or the INSPECTION REGULATIONS prohibits tint, but that it is only . . .
"... the Department's interpretation that FMVSS 205...only allows window tinting that permits 70% or more light to transmit through the window."
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