Window Tint vs Police Safety

Despite the benefits to window tinting, you often hear the negative stereotype that the only people tinting their windows are criminals.  This is far from the truth, as people of all types and backgrounds are choosing to tint their cars for UV and heat rejection.  Although a tinted car may make police feel much more cautious when approaching as the occupants may not be visible, I do believe that this stereotype is severely overplayed. TintCenter enjoyed a recent window tint rant by the LRC blog

As of July 1, Florida cops are permitted to impose about a $100 fine for each person in a vehicle who is not wearing a seat belt.  So tinted windows, which are pervasive in Florida, are seen as a major obstruction to tax collection.  Just in case the Booboisee might object, the news show put on the screen an A-K47 that was allegedly taken from a car with — you guessed it — tinted windows. It just stands to reason, then, that the Florida legislature should outlaw curtains and all other forms of home window coverings.  Who knows what heinous crimes might be committed behind those curtains!

I repeatedly express my admiration for the people in uniform including our cops on the streets, but I subscribe to the greater good theory.  In 2008, around 130 cops die in the line of duty of which a small percentage is due to tinted cars.  On the other hand, consider these facts about skin cancer in the US:

• Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than one million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.
• Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.
• One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
• Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the two major forms of non-melanoma skin cancer. Between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have either skin cancer at least once.
• In 2004, the total direct cost associated with the treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers was more than $1 billion.
• About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
• Up to 90 percent of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun.
• Contrary to popular belief, 80 percent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is not acquired before age 18; only about 23 percent of lifetime exposure occurs by age 18.

It is pretty clear which side is the “greater good”.