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A pet peeve of mine is illegal window tinting. Many times when I approach an intersection, I can't see whether the driver on a side street getting ready to pull out is looking my way because the windows are too dark. I understand it's easy to get a bogus prescription for tinting, but there should be a limit. As a police officer, I would feel a little intimidated walking up on a car with heavily tinted windows not knowing how many folks were inside or whether there was a weapon pointed at me. I would hope the window-tint people would take some responsibility for policing themselves, but I think they're waiting for Big Brother to give them something to complain about. — Mike M., Gold Hill I agree with almost all of your points, Mike. Window tinting that is too dark brings about problems for the driver being able to see out of his/her window easily at night, it prevents driver-to-driver nonverbal communication, and is a safety issue for police officers approaching a vehicle. Oregon's law says that without an affidavit (a doctor's prescription is usually accepted, although it's technically not an affidavit), a vehicle may be legally tinted down to the point where 35 percent of light is able to get through. All vehicles made in the U.S. are made with windows tinted at about 70 percent, so applying one coat of tint film would lower that to the Oregon standard of 35 percent. It's when you apply two, three or four layers of tint that you start running afoul of the law, barring a legal exemption. Most of the reputable tinting businesses in the Rogue Valley know the law and are generally good about following it. However, I have cited one or two businesses for illegally applying tint to vehicles whose owners don't have legal exemptions. Any business applying tint should furnish the customer with a tinting certificate saying who applied the tint and to what percentage the tint was applied, and that certificate should be kept in the vehicle. A large number of illegal tint jobs are those done by private parties, such as by the car owner or a friend or acquaintance. Most of them aren't aware of the legalities of window tinting, but the responsibility ultimately falls upon the owner of the vehicle. Other offenses occur when a person buys a vehicle from a dealership and that vehicle has come in from another state where the law may be different from Oregon's. A good rule of thumb is that if you can't easily see through the window and see the driver, then the window tint is probably too dark. We carry tint meters to give us precise percentages for enforcement purposes. Having illegally tinted windows is a Class B violation, which carries a fine of $287. Dace Cochran, a patrol sergeant with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, writes a regular Q&A column on police issues for the Mail Tribune. Have a question for him? Write to Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501, or email [email protected].