I heard this on Radio 5 this pm. Briefly, a chap was stopped by the police and 2 \'government inspectors\' who proceeded to check how much light was getting through the windows of his Chrysler Voyager. The test showed not enough so he was ordered to remove his car from the road within the hour. Fortunately for him National Breakdown agreed to take the car, him, his wife and 4 children back home to Reading from Manchester. For more details see this link:
www.getreading.co.uk/pfriendly.asp?intid=7109
and
tinyurl.com/gqey
On the radio today he was saying that he had had the car tint changed and 4inspectors came back (to Reading, from Manchester and elsewhere) to recheck. he had the lightest tint he could: still a failure. He then suggested that the inspectors test a clear windscreen. It failed. the inspectors claimed the window was dirty and they did not have the means to clean it! Apparently the agency that does this sort of testing is not set up to do tests in the south yet, so the inspectors had to travel. What a sensible use of the taxpayers money.
Looks like the \'inspectors\' didn\'t know how to use their machine properly or it was kaput.
So, if you are in Manchester and have tinted windows, beware.
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During the first posting on this subject I veiwed my concerns about the methods used.
If you hold a luxmeter outside you will of course get a high reading, hold it inside any car and you will get a much much lower reading. If you hold the meter in a building with daylight shining through you will get possibly 1200 lux, if you then move a few feet away that figure can drop to about 300 lux.
The inside of your car is always going to be much darker than outside even when very cloudy.
If they carry out the tests on a percentage system it will be fatally flawed and if they carry out the tests by setting a minimum lux level it will be flawed again as it will depend on the abient lighting level outside to start off with and if its cloudy your stuffed everytime.
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It's not April 1st is it?
H
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Idiots.
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Now that is what I would call excellent reporting.
Mr Burgess said this, Mr Burgess said that etc etc etc.
Absolutely nothing from the other side involved i.e. Trading Standards or VI (ignore Plod as it looks as if he was only used as a stopping agent).
A great way for an informed opinion.
DVD
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So, if you are in Manchester and have tinted windows, beware.
I\'d say if you\'re driving anywhere, beware.
You may think your tints are \"hip\", \"cool\" or whatever.
I\'d just say they prevent you from seeing properly and help you to pull out in front of motorcycles, even a police transit van, that one fellow backroomer did recently.
There\'s no need for tinting, and absolutely no justification.
Presumably, you drive around with your foglights on all the time too, thinking it\'s so dark through the windows!
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Got a job for these retards: Australia, where I am at the moment, has 12.3m registered vehicles, (source Min of Transport and Regional Services), just about every one of which has tint.
Bring back transportation, (in its original colonial sense), that should keep 'em busy.
Oh, and wait for my numerous bull-bar pix which I'll post, the PC pussies will think they've died and gone to Nanny Heaven.
...Growler out.
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Bring back transportation, (in its original colonial sense), that should keep 'em busy.
There are occasions when I regret that transportation is no longer in the catalogue of sentences I may use. Australia is much too nice a place now anyway. Maybe West Hartlepool......., Baghdad....., Charnock Richard Services on the M6?
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Sean,
I think tinting the back half of a car is a good idea if youve got children or carry valuables around.
If had opted for the ML I was looking at instead of the E-Class I would have had the rear half of the vehicle tinted for two reasons.
1. Keeps the sun off my children without having to put those ridiculous cat-face blinds in.
2. Security. I very often carry up to 10,000 quids worth of testing equipment and tools in the back and if a thief can't see them he wont bother breaking in.
And No, I dont drive around with my foglight on all the time. Only when wearing my baseball cap back to front.
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If you need a van ie an E-class or ML with half the windows blacked out, why didn't you just get an Astramax or Transit in the first place?
Why keep the sun off your children? Have you got half the windows blacked out at home too and make them wear nun's habits at school so the nasty sunshine doesn't burn them?
Poor kids.
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If a vehicle already has tinted glass, the windscreen and front side windows will almost certainly be 70% emmissivity, which is the maximum allowed in the UK and EU, for these windows. Further tint can then only be added to windows rear of the B-post. Imported vehicles from US, Oz or Middle East with front windows less than 70%, should have that glass changed before registration to comply with UK and EU legislation.
Historically, the police have ignored cars with excess tint but now are applying the existing laws as it may be PC's lives at risk if they can't see into cars which they stop.
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Most tinted window car drivers have them as an attention seeking accessory. The same as the bullbar and foglamp brigade.
And they always try and justify their taste by claiming 'safety reasons'
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Tend to agree Carrick although I can see the logic of tinted rear windows for some of the reasons already mentioned. Bull bars are of course another issue entirely as they have no value whatsoever and should be banned IMO. Attention seeking and posing do I believe play some part in this although it's interesting how this differs between the age groups. Silly neon/LED lights and 1 trillion Db sound systems on their hot hatches for the young and chrome plated bull bars and tinted glass all round for the middle aged. There are obviously exceptions to these rules though.
Now I have no problem with people putting stuff in or on their cars which don't adversely affect me or others. Sensible and legal tints are fine by me therefore. What I object to are things people do with no consideration for the safety, welfare or quality of life of others.
I guess I could easily afford pretty much any car on the market but it is my choice to drive a 12 year old estate which I don't worry too much about, isn't gonna depreciate like a stone and isn't likely to get nicked or vandalised. That's my choice according to my priorities. Likewise I'm happy to let others set their own priorities providing it doesn't threaten me. Sadly, there are too many people out their who don't consider those around them and believe they have the right to do pretty much anything they like - speeding, dangerous driving/parking , illegal tints, deafening 'music', etc. etc. Some of this behaviour is sadly not illegal but since so many people seem to want to insist insist on exercising their right to be antisocial, society has no option but to create the sort of laws that affect everyone and lead to accusations of nannying. A bit more common sense all round would help I think.
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In answer to your first question Sean.
My customers, some of who earn millions a year do not appreciate bieng taken to site in a Transit or Astramax so a nice car with a large boot seems the best choice.
Why keep the sun of my children? I would like you to sit in a childs car seat next to the window with the sun blazing through onto your face for a few hours and then see how you feel. By some miracle children are smaller than most adults and the sun always hits then straight in the face or head. Wouldn't be too pleasant on a long journey would it Sean.
My poor kids eh.
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Sean,
I forgot to mention the rear side windows of my E-Class have built in roller blinds so my poor children dont get sun stroke.
Does that irritate you too.
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Sean,
I don't know if you are being deliberately provocative / aggressive / stroppy / irritating or unintentionally so. Whichever it is its beginning to irritate me.
Please calm down. 90% of the threads you are posting at the moment seem deliberately abrasive.
I shall start removing notes you post which I find needlessly abrasive.
Mark.
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Marcos: as a child in Malaya (as it then was) I well remember the pain from the leather seats in my dads car, heated by the tropical sun. Pity we didn't have blinds/tinting in those days!
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Just a thought....
If it is illegal to have obscured rear windows on a car, how is it that it's ok for a van to have no glass rear of the B pillars?
I'm thinking of having the lightest tint available added to my rear windows because mini-me at three and a half, by some freak of nature that makes you question the existence of a higher being, cops the full glare of our nearest star regardless of which direction I drive. I sometimes think she would get hit by the sun full in the face at midnight!
For the record, I'm not even sure where my foglight switches are..... And what's a stereo? I get all my audio pleasure from five cylinders.
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