Silly question about driving a US vehicle in Canada....

[Tithen 4]

I know where I'm from that you cannot tint your front windows (pass or drivers). But down in the US we can.. so of course, DH's windows are tinted.

Does anyone know if this is going to end up being an issue for us this summer while on vacation? You can still see into our car quite well, I won't let him tint them any darker, I already have to wind down my window to see at night at some poorly lit intersections when it's raining.

[Flames9_RN 358]

I know where I'm from that you cannot tint your front windows (pass or drivers). But down in the US we can.. so of course, DH's windows are tinted.

Does anyone know if this is going to end up being an issue for us this summer while on vacation? You can still see into our car quite well, I won't let him tint them any darker, I already have to wind down my window to see at night at some poorly lit intersections when it's raining.

I believe each State has rules to how dark one can tint their windows--Same goes for each province, as I know I had many friends up here in Canada get their windows tinted. I guess it depends on how by the book a cop is. If your just visiting, most likely one would have no problems, thats just a guess.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Hubby's font windows are tinted. He drove his car up in Ontario a million times without issue. I think when local cops see you're from out of state/country they know rules differ. For example, here you need a license plate on the front and back of your car, but some other states only require a plate in the back. So if you're driving your car from Kansas let's say to Colorado you shouldn't have to worry about getting pulled over for a missing back plate. Just my two cents of course. I wouldn't worry, at all.

[Tithen 4]

yeah, I worked for an auto glass place and we did a lot of removing tints... but never from a non resident vehicle. I think it'd be pretty crappy to pull someone over on vacation for tint that was already applied, I know our insurance policy states the insured vehicle is tinted, so it's not like we're pulling a fast one.

I guess I may have to look into getting the medical reason after all, if they take the tint off the windows, DH can't even sit in the front seat of the car (his skin's too sensitive), bad enough his hands burn trough the windshield when he drives.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

Weird. I'm an insurance agent and I've never asked someone if their windows are tinted. Here It doesn't matter, the insurance companies don't care! Most people have tinted windows because its always sunny, and I never see cars with only back tints. Seriously, I wouldn't even put another thought into it, I don't see you having an issue at all. Like I said, my husband drove in Ontario a million times with his tinted windows and drove past a lot of police cars!

[Rob & Monika 87]

I think generally it is meant to protect the officers. If you get pulled over and the officer cannot see the driver of the vehicle through the tint, then you bet you will get a ticket for it. I would immediately open the windows so they can see in if tinting is an issue. If you don't do anything to get pulled over I doubt you will have a problem.

Then again, here in NY they sometimes pick a law to strictly enforce for a few days. One day they gave out thousands of tickets for people that had the license plate frames that all the dealerships put on cars they sell. Almost every car has one on it, imagine the surprise of the people that got ticketed for it. They could care less any other day of the year, but if they are looking for specific things to enforce for the day, they will spot it.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I don't think I've ever heard in the news or of any statute that says Canadian Police try to enforce a law like the 'amount of window tinting' on a foreign vehicle which is driving through Canada on vacation. More often than not foreign vehicles are American since it's so easy to come over the border on vacation. Speeding laws and things to do with general safety of course but I imagine there is something which exempts a vehicle which is not registered in Canada on a temporary basis.

Nothing to worry about

[Tithen 4]

Thanks folks.

I'll try and not worry about it, instead I need to figure out a way to teach DH to quickly convert the speed limits (since they don't quite match up)... he's already had a panic attack about driving 50mph in a 50kmph zone. lol. I keep telling him he'll know the difference since you don't do highway speeds through the middle of a town

[bsd058 296]

Weird. I'm an insurance agent and I've never asked someone if their windows are tinted. Here It doesn't matter, the insurance companies don't care! Most people have tinted windows because its always sunny, and I never see cars with only back tints. Seriously, I wouldn't even put another thought into it, I don't see you having an issue at all. Like I said, my husband drove in Ontario a million times with his tinted windows and drove past a lot of police cars!

Doesn't matter for insurance purposes (I'm an insurance agent, too), but it does matter for the police. Insurers usually assume that the driver will comply with the laws of the states/provinces which they are driving in. However, I don't know if a police officer would care once they see your license plate. If they notice that you've been in Canada for a while as a student or something, they might get you to fix the issue, but if you're just passing through for a couple of weeks, they'll let you know that next time you come, you should get rid of the tint.