[11] Bmw Window Tint In Monthly Headline

Q: I was driving through center city Philadelphia one night and got behind a late-model BMW. The driver would proceed through red lights after a brief stop when nothing was coming. He never got too far ahead, and I would eventually catch up. He had one of those license-plate shields that makes it difficult to read the plate, and his license-plate light was not working. I could tell it was a PA license, but could identify no letters or numbers. Why are those shields, which I see everywhere, legal? I believe their only purpose is to avoid recognition.

— Jack Mondschein, Bethlehem

Q: There's a new gimmick spreading around the Valley and probably the country — smoky, dark-plastic covers for your license plate, which keeps anyone from reading your license number unless they're standing within spitting distance of the car. Since these would be great for anyone planning a bank heist, shouldn't they be illegal? Surely there's got to be a regulation about obscuring your license number.

— Bob Compton, Upper Macungie Township

A: Tinted license-plate covers are illegal in Pennsylvania because they obscure the plate, according to state police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Manetta. They might not obscure it by much in some cases, depending on the level of tint, but by law plates cannot be obscured in any way, Manetta said.

I told him I've seen tinted plate covers and could still read the plate, and questioned why that would qualify as "obscured."

"It says 'obscured in any manner,' " he said of the law. "Obscured in any manner is obscured in any manner."

Though a plate might still be legible from directly behind, Manetta said, the characters get more obscured as the viewer moves to the side, as in a passing car. In addition, a cover that seems to pose no problem in daylight could obscure the characters at night; rain drops on a cover could cause distortion; and even the slightest tint would diminish the reflective quality of the plate itself, he said.

Another factor occurred to me: Artificial light from headlights or even street lights could reflect from the cover — tinted or clear, now that I think of it — obscuring the plate that way.

Manetta agreed that even clear plate covers can steer their way to illegality, including by becoming so yellowed or cloudy with age (much like plastic headlight covers) that they obscure the plate.

"I don't know why they sell them," he said of tinted plates, which also come in several colors.

Plate covers or spray-on chemicals designed to thwart red-light cameras specifically are cited in the law as being forbidden. Any other form of plate cover is subject to at least some interpretation as to what constitutes obscure, not to mention the exact identity of the familiar passenger, "reasonable."

Section 1332 of the Vehicles Law puts it this way: "It is unlawful to display on any vehicle a registration plate which: (1) is so dirty as to prevent the reading of the number or letters thereon at a reasonable distance; (2) is obscured in any manner which inhibits the proper operation of an automated red light enforcement system … ; (3) is otherwise illegible at a reasonable distance or is obscured in any manner.

By my reading, someone cited for a tinted plate under this section might get lucky with a judge on occasion, though I wouldn't count on it. Though tinted plates, unlike red-light blockers, are not specifically cited in the law, Manetta has me convinced that most objective observers would consider them obstructive at least to some degree.

Manetta said not all officers will cite every motorist they see with tinted plate covers. But he's given tickets for the violation, and to his knowledge none was overturned.

Pennsylvania's window-tinting standards specify that at least 70 percent of light must pass through the a vehicle's windshield and front-window glass. Judging by the many cars I see on the road with what appears to be extra-dark tinting — Jean Rogers of Emmaus and others have made this observation as well — I'm not sure how well those parameters are enforced. In addition, inexpensive after-market window-tinting films provide an easy detour of the regulations.

I suppose the Legislature could set light-passage standards for plate covers too, though that seems more complicated than it's worth. I'd opt for the shortcut: Simply ban tinted plates outright, as the law does with red-light blockers.

From comments I've seen on the Internet, some people buy tinted plate covers for aesthetic reasons. "Most people, like me, buy this product to make the appearance of their license plate darker so it looks better on a full black car," a customer opined on one plate-seller's web site. Another added, "It's not too tinted to attract the wrong kind of attention, but it is tinted enough so that you don't have to worry about people getting too nosy."

The wrong kind of attention being from law enforcement, I assume. But I don't understand the worry about civilians "getting too nosy." A license plate's sole function is the public display of information to identify the vehicle, setting it apart from the millions of others on the road. That information grants fellow warriors no access to personal information regarding the vehicle owner, at least not legally. Getting too nosy about what? There's nothing to be nosy about.

As with the products intended to beat red-light cameras, disclaimers come as standard product-description equipment with at least some of the tinted plate covers. This warning accompanies the $8 cover in today's photograph: "Note: Not legal in all states. Check your state's regulations before installing."

Though tinted plates aren't specifically banned in Pennsylvania, the state seems serious about maintaining legible plates in one respect: While the fine for most summary offenses in the Vehicles Law is $25, obscured-plate tickets are tagged at a hefty $100.

Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays, and the Warrior blogs at Media Email questions about roadways, traffic and transportation, with your name and the municipality where you live, to Media or write to Road Warrior, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260.