The residents say that if window tint was not installed on the windows, the explosive package would have landed dangerously close to the parent and baby sleeping inside the room.  Instead, the package exploded outside the home, but it still had enough explosive force to knock out the entire set of windows and cause severe smoke damage.

Home tint, similar to car tint, does strengthen the glass as well as hold the glass together due to its adhesive nature.  True protection films can be 5 times thicker than standard solar home tint, and the strength of such films in shielding from explosions or hurricane winds go up exponentially.

Home tint benefits usually run the gamut of blocking UV and solar rejection to “It looks good.”  To this family, home tint has a whole new meaning: “It saved our lives.”

To those that recognize and enjoy the benefits of window tint, there some online reactions are quite negative against the proposed law.  Some netizens of India question the tint  law from multiple angles.

SC (Indian Supreme Court) and police is trying to cover its lack in dealing with criminals by enforcing ban on films , how can they disallow every percentage crieteria just like that , they dont have to deal with the summers , our SC is not dealing with much more improtant issue such as increasing the punishment for criminal or directing police to be extra vigilent , so much of task force and resources( which are actually incurred from our pocket) will be wasted in this exercise , again there will be cases involving such crimes and our police - Ran

Other comments ask why the law is so draconian.  Rather than merely setting limits, the law outright bans even 70% VLT film from being installed!

I dont know why not 50% film was not allowed when police can see inside the car comfortably and pepole were saving fuel while running a.c.and now wasting more fuel while running a.c. without film when fuel prices are so high.Please think over it. – Nirmal Singh

It is quite disconcerting to see large societal entities, such as the Indian Government, uniformly ban all car tinting without developing a more nuanced law that removes the bad and keep the good that exists in every industry.

The Supreme Court judgment said, “The directions contained in this judgment shall become operative and enforceable with effect from 4th May, 2012.” The court has ruled that traffic police “shall also remove the black films from the offending vehicles.” “In accordance to the apex court’s order, we will be prosecuting any vehicle found with tinted film on the window. Irrespective of the percentage of the tinted film, challans will be issued and the tinted film removed immediately. If the vehicle owner resists the removal of tinted film, the car will be immediately impounded,” said joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg.

This move was a response to public safety concerns.  The article cites a handful of recent high-profile criminal activity that was conducted using tinted vehicles.  At first, reports of this new Indian tint law stated that there was just a standardized national darkness limit that applies to all vehicles.  From the newer reports, this new law extends further into outlawing ALL AFTERMARKET car tint!

In what seems to be a draconian response, by US Law and personal liberty standards, the new Indian tint law effectively bars all civilians from protecting themselves from the harsh sun where some Indian areas have temperature profiles similar to Texas.

Already installed car tint are to be removed immediately.  The only allowed tint are that installed by car manufacturers.  The winners are clearly the large companies who can now charge add-on customization rates to their vehicles.  The losers are the average tint shop without connections to local car dealerships.

Although it is understandable the meaning behind the law, making tint more out of reach to the general population can reduce crime, but at the cost of increased sun exposure, cancer rates, and lessened personal freedom.

This new invention has implications beyond standard household glass. Imagine the glass on PV solar cells becoming more efficient, cameras working in moist environments, or cell phone screens that stay clean. TintCenter can’t wait to see this product arrive in the mass-market in another 10-15 years.

Section 73 of the Highway Traffic Act states:

Colour coating obstructing view prohibited

(2) No person shall drive a motor vehicle upon a highway where the surface of the windshield or of any window of the vehicle has been coated with any colour spray or other colour coating in such a manner as to obstruct the driver’s view of the highway or any intersecting highway. (“Drive with window/windshield coated – view obstructed.”)

(3) No person shall drive on a highway a motor vehicle on which the surface of the windshield or of any window to the direct left or right of the driver’s seat has been coated with any coloured spray or other coloured or reflective material that substantially obscures the interior of the motor vehicle when viewed from outside the motor vehicle. (“Colour coating obscuring interior.”)

Unfortunately, fighting the ticket there is no clear cut defense.  The entire premise for the law is a subjective determination that a tint is too dark for the driver or the tint is considered too dark for an officer looking into a vehicle.  There doesn’t seem to be a clear number VLT (visual light transmittance) that is a scientific cut-off for what is legal and what is not.

Unclear rules like this discourage the car tint industry as it causes confusion in the buyers and tinters in what is proper with the law.

Mercedes is investigating applying this window tint technology to more windows on the vehicle, although they caution that it is a difficult road:

Company officials cautioned, however, that the technology won’t be on the market anytime soon. In addition to the engineering necessary to adapt the technology to a window that rolls up and down, must fit into a door, and must be safe during a crash, there are also considerable legal hurdles to be cleared. Laws on window tinting vary by state and country, which could make it too expensive or difficult to certify the technology with all the various regulatory agencies around the world. The automaker did not give a timeline for real-world applications. If and when it does come to market, we expect it will debut in the company’s more expensive models first and trickle down as costs are amortized.

In August 2011, we received three utility patents from the Ministry of State Intellectual Property Office of the PRC. These utility patents relate to anti-condensation automotive window film, oligomer-proof automotive window PET base film and anti-flaming matte film for architectural heat insulation.

Their main BOPET lines of film grew from 501.5 RMB million in 2010 to 537.6 RMB million ($84.5 Mil) in 2011 representing a modest 8% increase; however their specialty lines of film which includes automotive window film products improved a substantial 60% rising from 88 RMB Million to 140 RMB million ($23 Mill) in only a year, accounting for more than the entire growth from 2010-2011.

Solar protection and paint protection films have been hot markets in Asia this year.  Eastman Chemical cites one of the reasons for their recent Solutia (Llumar, Huper Optik, V-Kool) acquisition to be the emerging strength of window film product in Asia.  This trend seems to be growing as we see not only US based firms showing growth, but also domestic Chinese firms capitalizing on this growth.

With California tint laws requiring high visibility on the front windshield and front windows, his vehicle can be easily ticketed.  Another issue would be the neon underlights which were popular during the Fast and Furious movie series, but unfortunately were never approved to be street legal in California.

IWFA cited a letter it received in October from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in which the agency said that regulations allow window tinting, as long as at least 70% of the light transmission gets through the window.

“The clarification represents information that impacts millions of truck drivers who drive many hours at a stretch in ‘big rigs’ weighing more than 26,000 pounds,” Darrell Smith, IWFA’s executive director, said in a statement.

Skin cancer is more prevalent in the left arm and left side of the face, likely due to increased exposure to harmful ultraviolet A light from driving, IWFA said.

IWFA sought FMCSA’s guidance because law enforcement officers sometimes believe tint is never allowed on truck cab windows, the association said.  Many window films are light enough to comply with the 70% regulation while still blocking 99% of UV-A and UV-B radiation types.