£30 on-the-spot fine for illegally tinted car windows

Date published: 03 July 2007

A woman who was stopped by police traffic officers whilst driving in Rochdale has received a £30 on-the-spot fine because the side windows of her car are illegally tinted. The traffic officer who tested the passenger and driver-side windows of her Kia Sedona car found that they both failed to meet the legal requirements for visibility.

The woman said: "I had no idea that they were not letting in enough light. I have had the car for four years and never had a problem seeing out of the windows.

"The car was new when I bought it from Bramwell Motors, which has since closed. It had only five miles on the clock.

"The windows were supplied with the car and I have not added any tint, so obviously I assumed they would be legal.

"I was surprised to hear that they had a reading of 39 per cent which means they let in 39 per cent of light" - the legal limit for side windows is 70 per cent.

The motorist said that Kia supplied the car and so should at least replace the windows with legal ones.

She added: "I had no idea about this clampdown or that the windows in my car were illegal. Now I want to warn all the other car-owners who do not know that they are driving illegally because of tinted windows.

"I have been told that my insurance will be invalid because of this and just think the whole thing is disgraceful."

However, a spokesman for Kia said that while he had every sympathy with the woman, the tinted windows were not fitted to the car by the manufacturers.

He explained: "I can definitely say that Kia does not produce cars with illegally tinted windows. They must have been fitted to the car at a later date.

"They would not have been fitted at a dealership unless they were asked for, and the customer would be advised about legal limits.

"Unfortunately, the dealership where she bought the car is no longer in business but the company that took over says it will advise the woman if she contacts them."

The current police campaign to highlight the dangers of blacked-out windows was launched in April and an article warning motorists of the consequences of over-tinted windows appeared on Rochdale Online in May:

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/News/news.asp?ID=3362

Since then more than 2,000 owners have been fined for flouting regulations, and police are warning that anyone else caught will face similar action.

Penalties range from verbal advice to a £30 fine or prohibition notice, which prevents further use of the vehicle until the tints have been removed.