fotd710

aparently the state of iowa can and will pull you over and enforce your states license and tint laws.

i live in Illinois according to my license plates, drivers license and where i pay taxes. my girlfriend lives in iowa. this morning on my way to work in iowa. a state trooper pulls me over and tickets me for too dark of tint and warns me for not having my front license plate mind you im like 55miles away from being anywhere close to illinois.

bottom line if you have tint or ride with no front plate watch out in iowa because they wont give you a fix it ticket they will just fine you $50! and send you on your way.

THansenite

Well that sucks. I was just getting ready to try to fill and repaint my plate holes in the front bumper and say that I had just got a new bumper and was waiting to get a bracket to put my plate on the front as well as looking into places to do some tinting on my car. Thanks for ruining my plan. (but thanks for the warning as well.)

grizzly_choppers

Now this isn't a 100% hard and fast rule, but USUALLY the only ones that will get you on that stuff are the State Troopers.

I've been given my front plate ticket (TICKET, not a warning) and have been lied to by the officer. He told me that if I showed up with the plate on then the ticket would go away. Didn't happen.

So, I don't run my front plate in mute protest to a stupid law and an untruthful police force.

The tint, yeah, same kind of thing.

-Alex

fotd710

based on another thread on here about a guy with tint tickets. im hesitant to have the same protest. this guy had your same mute protest and got a ticket for non-compliance to a previous citation.
i have enough money to pay a few fines but im not sure the hassle and being late to work again plus the fines is worth it?
i guess i can figure out how iowa can justify inforcing another states law. next thing you know some cop from maine or cali will be stopping me in florida for loud music????????????

THansenite

I had figured not having a front plate would just be a simple fix-it ticket. If that was the case, I would definately fill the front holes and go with no front plate, just keep the plate under my seat and say I was waiting for a bracket if I got pulled over. A fix-it ticket wouldn't bother me. I assumed tint was the same. But if the cops are that hardcore about tint and front plates, I may have to reconsider. I hate the front plate law.

rustybender

I don't think they were enforcing Illinois' tint/plate laws, I think they were enforcing Iowa's tint/plate laws...When you are in another state, you are expected to follow that state's laws regardless of where you live.

tC_Brett

I know in Tennesee you don't have to have a front plate, so they can't expect you to go get a front plate when you're just driving through.


I think the cop was just being strict..... It seems like most cops don't even give the no front plate thing a second look. Or at least they don't seem to care in Omaha.

IAxB

I think this really depends on the cop, considering we have a club member here who runs no front' plate and dark front window tint, AND he's a county deputy... many of our Iowa club members run no front plates and dark tint, and haven't recieved much grief... sometimes its more of a mood thing with each cop....

Cmon don't scare people we got a big meet this summer with a lot of out of town/State guests already commited to attending!!!

olsonm

Sounds like organized crime to me......especially if a State Trooper is involved!!

tCpez

yes, please don't scare us out-of-towners... i have no front plate and dark windows and have had enough ticket trouble in my own state.



hopefully the weather will be nice when we're drivin out and i can keep the roof open so the windows don't look so dark...

rustybender

It is absolutely up to the mood of the particular cop. I was just saying that the ticket would have been for violating Iowa law, not Illinois law.

I guess it all depends on how the law is worded. If it says: "all vehicles registered in Iowa must have..." then it only applies to Iowa plated vehicles. If it says: "all vehicles must have..." then it applies to everyone regardless of home state laws. I would think the 2nd one is most likely.

Most cops are understanding, but not all. And if they are having a bad day, they may decide to enforce that law.

ScionDM

Now I've also heard that if you get a eye doctor to write you a note that you can run tint on all windows in Iowa. This might just be urban legend because it's always a friend of friend of a friend.

When I lived in Chi-town the cops were too busy to deal with these minor offenses.

kcautotc

^^^^ no sh**, in kc, the local cops consider a disgrace to uphold traffic violations, they got better things to do, like save peoples lives from burglaries and drunk husbands. but don't get me started on highway patrol or sheriff's. i loose sleep over how much i cant stand those worthless excuses for cops. they seem to be the kind of people that have no leverage at home, and their wife rapes them in the butt with her toys and leaves them in their every morning before they go to work, you can tell by the way they walk and wear those hats.

wow, i feel better now. now i dont want you all to think i hate cops, just those certain ones. i think the people that automatically hate cops are ignorant. yea, they ruin your life by giving you that dwi, while going 120; but think about how happy youd be if that person would have hit and killed you if the cop didnt stop him. i respect them very highly, and even though some of them are real ******, they are also the only ones that would come to save you when your life is in danger, they would put their life on the line for a complete stranger, thats awsome.

now, my question is, how dark is you guy's tint? i think mines 25 on the front and back, and i dont have a front plate. but when its not that dark, if i tell them the dealer did it when i bought it and they said it was 30-somethin, i think they would believe me, they dont have a way to test, right?

IAxB

Ok this is not an urban Legend.... I'm an optician, meaning I make glasses and stuff, not a eye doctor, but if you go to the DOT office and ask they will give you the form, the trick is that even the tint allowed by the form isn't really that dark...And the majority of Optometrists I've worked for don't fill them out.

I'll quote a Optometrist I used to work for,"there are very few things a very good pair of Sunglasses wouldn't resolve for people with extreme light sensitivity, tint wouldn't be the answer since they still couln't tint the front windshield and that is where most glare would come from."

Now I do know people who will argue that tint makes migranes go away and such, but in my experience, most people want the form signed so they're cars can look reallly cool... and BTW I don't run front tint, and the Dr I work for won't sign the paper, even for ME!

Sorry about the book...

Storm13

I'm not saying you're wrong, but that doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, for instance, what if you live in a state where you are NOT required to run a front license plate and you visit a state where front plates are mandatory. There's no way they can cite you for not running a front plate. Also, what if you live in a state where there are no emission laws or testing and you visit a state that does? They can't cite you for that - there's no way to get the emissions testing done where you live.

I could be dead wrong on this, so I'll see what I can find out. I have several police officers that are close personal friends of mine. I'll check on this and report back.

ScionDM

IAxB I did mean any offense by "un-political correctness"

I just a horrible speller and didn't have time to spell check but thank you for taking the time to fill me and the forum in.

grizzly_choppers

Oh hell! You have offended The Roy and now you must die Dan. Sorry bro, I always liked you, but there's nothing I can do.

Tell Rachel we're sorry!

-Alex

fotd710

sorry everyone my intention was not scare anyone just to warn you that its a possibility.
its totally possible that i was a victim of a jerk cop but he seemed really cool and compelmented that my car looked good and said that he likes the three scion cars. and yes he used some meter to check the darkness of my tint. and its even darker than what i thought it was 20%

Storm13

And now this has caused a debate among the local cops where I live.

Some say they CAN enforce Kansas traffic ordinances on somebody not from Kansas but travelling through, but more than likely would not because it would be a lousy thing to do. Some say they can't enforce Kansas traffic ordinances if you don't live in the State of Kansas.

I wonder where this will end up? A call has been placed to the District Attorney who would be the prosecutor if such a ticket ended up in court to see what his opinion is.

rustybender

I think we can agree it's a confusing mess.

Back when light up neon license plate frames were "all the rage," I worked in NE with a lady from IA. The neon plates were legal in IA but illegal in NE. She got ticketed for that frame twice. She tried to fight it but lost. The reason, NE roads, NE laws of the road.

I can't see how plates would be any different with the possible exception that if a state only issues one plate per vehicle, it would be ian undue hardship for you to comply. You still might get the ticket but would likely win in court.