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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 2007
Contact: Sarah Krauss
(212) 669-4193; (917) 541-0936
Release #: 040-2007
Public Advocate Gotbaum City and State Officials Introduce Legislation to Crackdown on Illegally Tinted Windows and Protect Police Officers
MANHATTAN – New York State needs to crackdown on illegally-tinted windows to protect cops and eliminate a known tool of terrorists, New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, State Senator Eric Adams and Council Member Peter Vallone said today. The elected officials introduced new state and city legislation that, among other things, will ban blacked-out back windows, require annual checks of window tint and increase penalties on businesses that install illegal tints on cars. Currently, nothing prevents criminals and terrorists from hiding weapons or illegal behavior behind blacked-out rear windows.
The proposal comes after New York City Police Officers Herman Yan and Russel Timoshenko were shot multiple times in Brooklyn during a nighttime stop of a stolen SUV with tinted windows. The state legislation would increase penalties for violating the anti-tinting law and include a $250 surcharge to fund to train and equip police officers.
State Senators Adams and Golden are considering new state legislation that will:
1. Require annual inspections of vehicles for current window tinting law enforcement;
2. Amend State law to prohibit unlimited tinting of rear window on vehicles if they have side mirrors;
3. Increase penalties for equipping vehicles with illegally tinted windows; and
4. Increase penalties for violation of law - adding a $250 surcharge to be for fund for officer safety and training.
Public Advocate Gotbaum and Council Member Vallone are considering new city legislation that will:
1. Ban sale of after-market, do-it-yourself window tint film in NYC;
2. Require tinting establishments to record and maintain data, including license plate, driver’s license, and percentage of tint on each window before and after they tint any window;
3. Require any cars impounded by NYPD with illegally tinted windows to have a payment made by owner/driver prior to pickup that will be refunded (with surcharge retained) once proof of the removal is submitted;
4. Require a notice of the tinting law to be distributed to all auto-body repair shops, and require such notice with window tint law to be conspicuously posted wherever tinting is done;
5. Require the commercial sale, lease or renting of any vehicle that has tinted windows within NYC to file a notice of compliance with State law, that such vehicle is legal to be driven in NYS.
Public Advocate Gotbaum said, “Every time a cop approaches a car with blacked-out windows, he is doing something no cop should have to do: walk blindly into a potentially life-threatening situation. We need to crackdown on illegally tinted windows - before they are on our streets - so we can protect law enforcement officials and help them do their jobs safely.”
State Senator Eric Adams said, “Vehicle stops are one of the most dangerous duties put upon law enforcement officials. Illegally tinted windows increase that danger. The legislation that we will be introducing could be one of the steps towards creating a safer environment for officers and pedestrians alike.”
Senator Marty Golden (R-C, Brooklyn), stated, "The current window tinting law governing New York State motorists must be reviewed and we should seek stricter enforcement. We need to discuss ways to increase the effectiveness of the present laws. Our dialogue must be focused around the need to establish harsher penalties in order to remove an element from our roadways that causes harm to pedestrian and vehicular traffic across the Empire State."
Council Member Vallone, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, said, “During car stops, officers are too often forced to guess whether a criminal is going for a wallet or going for a gun. But aside from the dangers that our officers face, they need to be able to see if passengers are hiding drugs or other criminal paraphernalia. They can't do that with a dark window staring them in the face.”
The test for window opaqueness is simple and inexpensive. During routine annual safety and emissions inspections required by state law, technicians would also test auto glass with a "tint meter," which measures the amount of light that passes through the glass. Owners of the 10.5 million vehicles registered in New York State, 1.8 million in New York City, would pay a surcharge of one dollar to businesses to offset the cost of labor, training and equipment. A current inspection costs $10 for the safety evaluation and $27 for the emissions evaluation.
Section 375 (12-a) of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law prohibits overly dark windshields or dark front and rear side windows, which must admit at least 70 percent of available light. It is illegal to sell, install or drive with auto glass that does not comply with this law. If a medical condition warrants a different standard, the vehicle owner may request an exemption.
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