Window tint and MD inspection station

Will knows this already but a total prick state trooper pulled me over a couple days ago and wrote me a repair order for my window tint and a citation for no front license plate.
Yes, I know I should put a front plate on but I don't want to drill into my beautiful custom racing stripes on the Roush front fascia. I'll just pay that $60 fine and be done with it.
The problem is the window tint. My brother who is a Baltimore county officer said: It has to be signed off by an authorized maryland inspection station and then a police officer. The tint is 30% and legal limit is 35% so it is not far off but it also won't technically pass if someone decides to be a hardass about it.
Does anyone know where I could easily get this signed off?

I swear that if I have to get the tint taken off then I'll just get 5% put on all around the next day.

does the ticket have an asterisk beside the charge?

Good luck w/ that. Here is the problem, someone signs off, you get stopped again, they look into it, the inspector that signed off is in deep shit.

There's ppl out there that will do it. You just have to find one. I am not one of those ppl. Too much at risk. Visual citations are the hardest b/c they can be seen.

PRO50SC wrote:Good luck w/ that. Here is the problem, someone signs off, you get stopped again, they look into it, the inspector that signed off is in deep shit.

There's ppl out there that will do it. You just have to find one. I am not one of those ppl. Too much at risk. Visual citations are the hardest b/c they can be seen.

I see your point but no one is stopping them from getting the window retinted. Example, i get a tint ticket and get the tint removed and the ticket signed off. The next day I go get the windows retinted. 3 days later i get pulled over again and get another ticket. Then i'm right back where i started. So who knows whether you actually removed it or not. Once its signed off its a clean slate. I called my brother and asked him how it all worked. Apparently if there is an asterisk beside the charge he can or can't sign off on it as there are certain things he cant sign off. For tint he knows hes signed off on it in the past but now you may have to go to DMV and have the Trooper there meter it and then sign off. In MD the troopers do not carry tint meters, only dmv assigned troopers meter tint. Usually certain days of the week during select hours.

http://www.berwynheightspd.com/tinted%20windows.htm

VEHICLE WINDOW TINT LAW
Section 22-406 of the Maryland Transportation Article

Class “A” Registered Vehicles #13-912 (Passenger Vehicles & Station Wagons) - May have add-on
(aftermarket) window tint on any window except the windshield, provided that the tinting material
allows a minimum of 35% light transmittance through the glass.

Class “B, E, & M” Registered Vehicles #13-913, 13-917 & 13-937 (For Hire Vehicles, Trucks & Multi-
Purpose Vehicles) - May have add-on (aftermarket) window tint on any window except the windshield,
provided that the tinting material on the windows to the immediate right and left of the driver allows a
minimum of 35% light transmittance through the glass.
The remaining windows have no percentage requirement.

* In addition, No tinted windows (no matter what the degree of light transmittance is) may have
a “mirrored,” “reflective,” or “one-way” effect, and may not have a Red, Yellow or Amber color.

Violations of the above laws subject the vehicle operator to a $50.00 Traffic Citation under Section 22-406 i1
of the Maryland Vehicle Law and/or a Safety Equipment Repair Order.

If a Safety Equipment Repair Order has been issued for a window tint violation, the problem must be corr-
ected and the vehicle re-inspected within 10 Days, by a member of the Maryland State Police Automotive
Equipment Safety Division. (A.S.E.D.) (Garages cannot certify vehicles for window tint violations.)

Members of the A.S.E.D. are available for vehicle inspections at the Largo MVA (Route 202 near Rt. 214)
on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays from 8:30 am to 10:30 am, and the Beltsville MVA (Route 1 & Ammen-
dale Drive) on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 8:30 am to 10:30 am.

Brian to the rescue!!

6SPD04COBRA wrote:

PRO50SC wrote:Good luck w/ that. Here is the problem, someone signs off, you get stopped again, they look into it, the inspector that signed off is in deep shit.

There's ppl out there that will do it. You just have to find one. I am not one of those ppl. Too much at risk. Visual citations are the hardest b/c they can be seen.

I see your point but no one is stopping them from getting the window retinted. Example, i get a tint ticket and get the tint removed and the ticket signed off. The next day I go get the windows retinted. 3 days later i get pulled over again and get another ticket. Then i'm right back where i started. So who knows whether you actually removed it or not. Once its signed off its a clean slate. I called my brother and asked him how it all worked. Apparently if there is an asterisk beside the charge he can or can't sign off on it as there are certain things he cant sign off. For tint he knows hes signed off on it in the past but now you may have to go to DMV and have the Trooper there meter it and then sign off. In MD the troopers do not carry tint meters, only dmv assigned troopers meter tint. Usually certain days of the week during select hours.

True, but what if they ask you to produce a receipt for the new tint.

As far as certifying the tint, we can do it only if it's removed. As Brian stated, if it's still on the car it has to be taken to the MVA. They were in the process of having inspection stations be able to certify tint, but it was put on hold for some reason. We had already bought the tint meter. By the time they get around to ok'ing it, the meter will be obsolete.

Thanks for the info Brian. Guess I'll get it taken off tomorrow, inspected Friday morning and get more tint put on Friday afternoon. lol

The current law as stated does not allow an authorized station to certify tint, ASED has required us to purchase the light meters that test for such and we have one, but in cases where add on tint passes and a SERO was issued an ASED OFFICER at the dmv still has to be the one to sign off on it, as Bernie stated we can only do it currently in cases where all add on tint is removed, in August they project to be allowing us to certify such.....we'll see......as for now were stuck with a F'ING meter that we can't legally use

I found this on the MVA's central website:

To resolve an SERO issued for your vehicle, you must have the vehicle repaired within ten (10) days. The repairs may be made at any garage or repair shop of your choice, or you may do it yourself.

After the vehicle is repaired, you will need to take the SERO (Copy 3, 4 and 5) to an MSP authorized inspection station in order to have the repair inspected and certified. The registered inspection mechanic will sign and stamp all copies of the SERO to certify that all defects cited on the SERO have been fixed correctly. The registered inspection mechanic will retain Copy 3 (yellow) for his/her records.

If all of the defects identified on the SERO are followed by an asterisk (*), indicating that the repair can be visually inspected, you may ask a Maryland State Police trooper or local police officer in a participating police department to certify the repair, instead of a registered inspection mechanic. The inspector must inspect your vehicle during daylight hours, while the weather is not inclement. However, be sure that all of the defects identified on your SERO have an asterisk.
If the defect identified on the SERO is aftermarket window tint, an MSP trooper assigned to the ASED must inspect and test the degree of tint. Contact the ASED office for hours and locations. If the aftermarket window tint is completely removed, however, the vehicle then may be taken to any authorized inspection station or MSP barrack to be inspected.
When the repair has been certified and the SERO has been signed and stamped, you must submit Copy 5 (buff card stock) of the SERO to the Maryland State Police ASED. The copy must be submitted no later than 30 days after the date on which the SERO was issued. Either mail or hand-deliver Copy 5 of the SERO to:

Maryland State Police
Automotive Safety Enforcement Division (ASED)
6601 Ritchie Highway, NE
Glen Burnie, MD 21062

You should retain Copy 4 (goldenrod) of the SERO for your records.

It looks like your going to have to have it removed.

That being said, if I had this problem and I removed the tint, got inspected, then went to Auto Zone and bought new tint, installed it myself and threw away the packaging along with the receipt that I paid cash for, no one could prove that I didn't have it removed and put back on, Just saying.

Also remember when using the light meter even though you get 35% from a shop your factory window has tint as well. This will cause the meter to fault by a few and they can either pass you or fail you. I had to do this with my car when I got it reinspected.

Droptop306 wrote:Also remember when using the light meter even though you get 35% from a shop your factory window has tint as well. This will cause the meter to fault by a few and they can either pass you or fail you. I had to do this with my car when I got it reinspected.

Vert true. Mine failed b/c of that.

Looks like you found out what you need to know. Any officer can sign off on most ERO's, but tint isn't one of them, has to be MSP, and at one of their MVA stations