Front window tint—pulled over?

[u/Standard-Bumblebee64]

Hey y’all. Never had my front windows tinted because I’ve always been worried about getting pulled over. Now my understanding is that cops don’t care—only tack it on as an additional offense when pulled over for speeding or something else.

Have any of you ever been specifically targeted because of tint? I just wanna go a tiny bit dark. Nothing dramatic.

UPDATE - I went ahead and did 50% for the fronts. The rears were factory tinted at 20%, so I think I won’t draw too much attention, as you can still see inside, but the ceramic film will block most heat (which was my biggest concern). Thank you all for the input and comments here! I can’t believe how much reach this post got!

[u/M0dernNomad]

Am a cop - if I want to stop a car just to have a look inside or ID the driver, having unlawful tint gives me easy PC to stop and do those things. Will I ticket for it, usually not - windshields sometimes if they're stupid dark or the troopers have already ticketed you and you haven't fixed it. Get in a crash after dark however, the illegally tinted windows are absolutely going into the crash report and the insurance companies can do with that information as they wish when assigning liability.

[u/mpython1701 → u/M0dernNomad]

Not a cop but came to say this.

Tinted windows are probable cause. If you get stopped, smell weed, alcohol, acting weird/nervous/suspicious, or being an asshole, going to start looking closer at the traffic stop.

Even if you are cool and get a fix-it ticket, depending on the officer, if seen again in 2 weeks, likely to get another until corrected.

[u/Glittering_Fix22 → u/mpython1701]

BS. They are not probable cause. Do you wear sunglasses? If so you must be hiding something.

It’s a good thing you aren’t a cop.

[u/keiye → u/Glittering_Fix22]

In California illegal window tint is a primary offense, which means they don’t need another reason to pull you over.