Not wanting to get all judgy on here (people who judge others on online forums are the WORST! ...lol just kidding I was joke judging just then)
Also, I'd especially not judge pvogel, who, along with Ohmman are tied for the top 2 members on this forum IMHO. I always find their posts to be classy, informative and most importantly I get the impression that they consistently treat their discussions here on an anonymous forum with the same level of humanity that they would treat someone face to face.
That said, I always thought the question of tint wasn't about you being able to see *out* well enough, but rather, the ability for people (police in particular) to see in. And that is IMHO something that does kind of affect all our safety.
I usually think of tint this way. Picture you have a box with a perfectly clear lid. There's an object inside. It's an over simplification (because there's always some absorption) but you can kind of say that for every 1 unit of light that enters that box, 1 unit of light will be reflected back out of that box.
Now, if you tint that glass lid at 70%, you'll lose 30% of the light on the way in, and then 30% of that remaining light reflected back out. 0.7 X 0.7 = 0.49. In other words, it will be about twice as hard to see inside that box when tinted at 70% (note, there's no light source inside the box)
By tinting the lid at 50%, now only 25% of the light that goes into the box can make it out. So you've made the object twice as hard again to see.
The way I see it (pun intended) that's what you're doing by over tinting your windows. You're making it twice as hard (sort of) as the legal limit, for an officer to see who you are. During the day that's probably not a big deal. But picture it's night time, and you're a police officer who pulled over your car, and you're approaching the driver window.
I mean, like I said, not trying to get judgy. Don't want to blow it out of proportion. But that's my thought process. I haven't experimented with different tint levels and I don't know if 50% tint is still totally fine at night. There are also many other factors like how a car isn't a simple box. There's a clear windshield, but there's also possibly limo tint on the rear windows...
I recently almost bought a used MS, and asked the owner if he had trouble due to his tint and lack of front license plate. He told me that tesla owners benefit from the "good kind of profiling". That in general, he felt like the police wouldn't bug him as much as they would some other types of cars with the same infractions.
I'll be honest - I don't love that notion. I'm not all high and mighty about it. But it rubs me the wrong way. I don't know if it's even true, but I don't like it...
Actually, 5 days ago I bought a used MS (not the same one as above), so I'm now a newbie tesla owner. The previous owner had the windows tinted. I don't know what % tint they are. Maybe I'm hypocritical, but while I don't think I would buy illegal tint, I'll probably just tell myself that what I have installed is legit (I'd also rather not pay to remove and re-add tint). However, my car does not have a front license plate and I intend to correct that even though it looks worse. I'd rather follow that rule for the sake of following it.
Also, I'd especially not judge pvogel, who, along with Ohmman are tied for the top 2 members on this forum IMHO. I always find their posts to be classy, informative and most importantly I get the impression that they consistently treat their discussions here on an anonymous forum with the same level of humanity that they would treat someone face to face.
That said, I always thought the question of tint wasn't about you being able to see *out* well enough, but rather, the ability for people (police in particular) to see in. And that is IMHO something that does kind of affect all our safety.
I usually think of tint this way. Picture you have a box with a perfectly clear lid. There's an object inside. It's an over simplification (because there's always some absorption) but you can kind of say that for every 1 unit of light that enters that box, 1 unit of light will be reflected back out of that box.
Now, if you tint that glass lid at 70%, you'll lose 30% of the light on the way in, and then 30% of that remaining light reflected back out. 0.7 X 0.7 = 0.49. In other words, it will be about twice as hard to see inside that box when tinted at 70% (note, there's no light source inside the box)
By tinting the lid at 50%, now only 25% of the light that goes into the box can make it out. So you've made the object twice as hard again to see.
The way I see it (pun intended) that's what you're doing by over tinting your windows. You're making it twice as hard (sort of) as the legal limit, for an officer to see who you are. During the day that's probably not a big deal. But picture it's night time, and you're a police officer who pulled over your car, and you're approaching the driver window.
I mean, like I said, not trying to get judgy. Don't want to blow it out of proportion. But that's my thought process. I haven't experimented with different tint levels and I don't know if 50% tint is still totally fine at night. There are also many other factors like how a car isn't a simple box. There's a clear windshield, but there's also possibly limo tint on the rear windows...
I recently almost bought a used MS, and asked the owner if he had trouble due to his tint and lack of front license plate. He told me that tesla owners benefit from the "good kind of profiling". That in general, he felt like the police wouldn't bug him as much as they would some other types of cars with the same infractions.
I'll be honest - I don't love that notion. I'm not all high and mighty about it. But it rubs me the wrong way. I don't know if it's even true, but I don't like it...
Actually, 5 days ago I bought a used MS (not the same one as above), so I'm now a newbie tesla owner. The previous owner had the windows tinted. I don't know what % tint they are. Maybe I'm hypocritical, but while I don't think I would buy illegal tint, I'll probably just tell myself that what I have installed is legit (I'd also rather not pay to remove and re-add tint). However, my car does not have a front license plate and I intend to correct that even though it looks worse. I'd rather follow that rule for the sake of following it.
