PA vehicle equipment restrictions...

[Scion-tific]

I'm moving from Las Vegas to rural north western PA in a few weeks and I have a few law enforcment questions about my car. In Vegas everyone has tinted windows and I'm no exception. I know my windows meet the legal requirements here in NV but I'm worried about what will happen we I get to PA. It seems like the law is vague but somewhat enforced. My tint is probably about 60% (allows 60% of light to pass through) and was on my car when I bought it from the dealership new. (can you believe they didn't even charge extra for it!) The front window just has the little tint strip across the top like most cars but the large passanger and driver side windows have the darker tint and so do the tiny back windows and the rear hatch window. I can pretty easily remove the big side window tint but I don't want to damage the defroster strips in the rear window (I'm gonna need that in PA.) To be honest I don't want to remove any of it (it looks nice and I'm used to it) but I don't want to get a ticket or pulled over every day either.
I also had an under car light kit installed a year ago and internal lighting under the front seats. I never run them while on public property but I don't want to have to remove them either. The lights are green (I specifically avoided red, blue and yellow since they actually mean something.) I'd like to hear from a PA officer familiar with the more rural parts of the state in regards to my best course of action. And no jokes about staying in Vegas please

-Nate (aka Scion-tific)

P.S. if you're wondering why all this stuff is on the car in the first place, I was planning on entering some of the local shows here in Vegas, won't be doing that now so all I need is some good advice. Thanks!

[phantasm]

According to a random tint law website, PA law is 70%, 60% is PROBABLY not visibly noticeable, but would be with a tint meter. Guess it depends on the cop.

As for the aftermarket lighting, even if on private property (ie a parking lot), it may still be enforceable. If you're at a legitimate car show, than maybe it would be allowable.

[mcsap]

To properly answer your question, I need to know the year and make/model of your car. It does make a difference.

PA has a confusing tint law. The LAW says that I have to be able to see into the car. Not very scientific.

But , PA has adopted regulations found in our Title 67 that narrow it down specifically. For cars 1998 and newer , you cannot have ANY aftermarket tint on any of the side or rear windows. ANd for the windshield , you cannot have any opaque material along the top , but you can have translucent material down to the AS-1 line or a max of 4 inches down.

1997 and older CARS can have rear window ONLY tint but it must be VESC-20 approved and have the stickers applied to the glass.

For SUV's , vans , trucks. Regardless of the year you must match the above restructions on your FRONT windows and the windshield. For the back windows ( of a king cab or a crew cab) you can tint them as dark as you want. NO regs on the back windows.

The reg on car windows is that there must be at least a VLT ( visible light transmittance) of 70%. Factory stock glass that does not appear to be tinted is already down to about 73%. This is to comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

So if you add ANY aftermarket tint to a car that is already at 73% , you will take it down to well below 70%. " Clear " glass isn't actually clear.

Your car will pass PA State Inspection as tint was removed from the inspection in 1997 but is still enforceable by the Police.

Because a DEALER added tint does not make it legal.

FACTORY installed tint , actually embedded in the glass like on some trucks and SUV's is legal.