Warning for SOMD drivers

[SubaSteve]

I was pulled over today by a state trooper for "supposedly" having too dark of a tint and not being at the 35% mark. I know for a fact that it's 35% but now I have to go get it certified.

That really isn't the icing on the cake, he told me he was doing me a favor because he wasn't writing me a ticket for my modified exhaust. He stated that it is illegal to have any exhaust other than stock in the state of Maryland. He also stated that he's seen a bunch of brzs with aftermarket exhausts so he knows what its supposed to look like. Keep in mind I was at cruising speeds so I know he didn't hear it.

What's the actual law behind this? This was located in Calvert County and it was a state trooper that pulled me over.

I saw him pull over a mustang that had tint right after mine so if you commute through calvert county watch out for this.

[swarb]

Originally Posted by SubaSteve

I was pulled over today by a state trooper for "supposedly" having too dark of a tint and not being at the 35% mark. I know for a fact that it's 35% but now I have to go get it certified.

That really isn't the icing on the cake, he told me he was doing me a favor because he wasn't writing me a ticket for my modified exhaust. He stated that it is illegal to have any exhaust other than stock in the state of Maryland. He also stated that he's seen a bunch of brzs with aftermarket exhausts so he knows what its supposed to look like. Keep in mind I was at cruising speeds so I know he didn't hear it.

What's the actual law behind this? This was located in Calvert County and it was a state trooper that pulled me over.

I saw him pull over a mustang that had tint right after mine so if you commute through calvert county watch out for this.

Search google?
Stock glass already is about at 80-90%, so 35% on top would make it about 30% or so. Even tint called "35%" doesn't even come at the advertised rate, some lower or higher, at 33% for example and they call it 35% for marketing purposes.

So do you "know for a fact that it's 35%" or is that what the tint company calls it?

He did you a favor, enjoy that icing on the cake.

[MarkR171]

The law doesn't say anything about aftermarket exhausts, but it does prohibit anything that emits "excess" noise... and the law regarding that is vague. Technically, muffler deletes of any kind are illegal, as are bypass valves/cutouts.

...which is weird, because my old Fiat 500 Abarth and my current Alfa 4C are both muffler-less from the factory.

[SubaSteve]

Originally Posted by swarb

Search google?
Stock glass already is about at 80-90%, so 35% on top would make it about 30% or so. Even tint called "35%" doesn't even come at the advertised rate, some lower or higher, at 33% for example and they call it 35% for marketing purposes.

So do you "know for a fact that it's 35%" or is that what the tint company calls it?

He did you a favor, enjoy that icing on the cake.

I wasn't too worried about the tint laws more the laws on an aftermarket exhaust. Also I know that it's within the legal limit pardon my assumption that it was exactly at that number.

[swarb]

Originally Posted by SubaSteve

I wasn't too worried about the tint laws more the laws on an aftermarket exhaust. Also I know that it's within the legal limit pardon my assumption that it was exactly at that number.

I'm in California but the rules on exhaust is a grey area. It's illegal to modify it, thus making the work done at all exhaust shops illegal, yet they continue to operate. A cop can still give you a ticket for stock exhaust as it *looks*(to his eyes) modified and it is up to you to deal with it.

Tint, how do you "know" it is within the legal limit? That is where the certification comes in. And if you don't have that already, you don't "know".

Not trying to bust your balls.

[Bowen]

Cops in SOMD are so retarded sometimes. The only exhaust laws in Maryland is that it has to have a cat on it, and if you live in a state with emissions then you gotta get your emissions tested.

As for tint, he should have pulled out the little tool that reads how much light can pass through the window. Idk how he just "eyeballed" it.

Seems to me like he was having a bad day, or trying to see if you were DUI.

[Whooppee777]

Sounds like an a**hat officer. I grew up in SOMD and though I've been popped for speeding, never once did a cop notice my 15%-20% tint.

As long as you don't set a CEL you will pass emissions. Did it several times on my catless supercharged Yaris back in the day.

[White64Goat]

If you have factory 'soft-ray' glass it is about 7 to 8% percent tinted. Add the 35% tint on top of that and you're at 42% and it will fail. I know because I took my son's Forester and had it tinted with 35% before I put it through MD. inspection and it failed. Had to peel it ALL off. Subaru Foresters are classified as a car/station wagon and that's because it's not built on a truck chassis and cars and trucks have different tint laws as to what can be used on the sides and back.

What pissed me off the worst is I see regular cars with windows so dark you can't see in them and never get pulled over......

[Bowen]

Originally Posted by White64Goat

If you have factory 'soft-ray' glass it is about 7 to 8% percent tinted. Add the 35% tint on top of that and you're at 42% and it will fail. I know because I took my son's Forester and had it tinted with 35% before I put it through MD. inspection and it failed. Had to peel it ALL off. Subaru Foresters are classified as a car/station wagon and that's because it's not built on a truck chassis and cars and trucks have different tint laws as to what can be used on the sides and back.

What pissed me off the worst is I see regular cars with windows so dark you can't see in them and never get pulled over......

It's just one of those "roll the dice" things, some people have friends in the police force, so if they do get pulled over for tint, they'll just get their friend to convince the officer to drop the ticket. I feel like tint is one of those things where you won't get pulled over strictly for it, but they'll tack it ontop of an existing charge. Such as speeding or a hardware failure.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Speeding]

I've had MD police try to make me pull my tint off before because they said it was below the legal limit. If they ever try this on you, ask them if they have the light tool which shows the amount of light that passes through. If it's on the windshield, make sure that it's not below the AST mark, or it's illegal.


I didn't think there was a law about modified exhausts, .... http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland...title-6/22-609

Guess I'll dig out the silencers for my exhaust in case I ever drive through Calvert County.

[SLOW-H4]

SEMA has worked for years on federal legislation concerning stuff like exhaust and other mods that are pretty much bolt on. They've really been an advocate for car owners and vendors
https://www.sema.org/sema-enews/2013...-laws-by-state