By Brooke Meyer
Some may want it for privacy, to beat the heat, or perhaps just for a change in look, but the new fad of tinting windows is changing for citizens in the Wasatch Valley.
For Utah residents, the cost to be 'cool' is now high.
Utah is shedding light on the tinting laws. Al Runolfson, salesman for the Harmon Downtown Auto Center, said, 'The reason there are so many problems now is mainly because Utah is coming down hard, right now.'
Duane Youd, owner of Rhedd''s Tint and Trim Company, said, 'From summer on is our peak time, and everyone wants to tint their windows. And now everyone is coming back to get their windows fixed.'
Tinted windows are a safety issue Trooper Kevin Elmer of the Utah Highway Patrol in Vehicle Safety Inspection said.
'There was an officer badly wounded when he couldn''t see the person in the car pull out a gun and fire it at him, because the mans'' windows were tinted,' he said. 'Our focus is the safety of those on the roads.'
Out of the nation, Utah has the lowest percentage of light allowed for tinting of side windows.
'Forty-three percent is the legal limit of light allowed to enter the two front doors,' said Youd, 'following only California with its zero percent limit.'
Youd said the limit could be detrimental to business.
'All the surrounding states have higher percentage limits, even Idaho...and it hurts business when we have to tell people we won''t do it,' he said.
People typically are not aware of the legal limit and they always want it darker than they can have, Youd said.
'We educate all people that come into our store about the legal limits, and when we reject them they go to someone who will do it, illegally,' Youd said.
Elmer said people will find alternative ways to darken their windows.
'People always say they have a friend who can do it for them to get the tinting job done, if rejected by first tinting company,' he said.
Elmer said this has become a serious problem that hurts everybody.
But the problem doesn''t end with the installation of tinted windows, there is still an inspection to pass.
'Many people,' said Youd, 'are going in for inspections and are being failed, even when they might have passed in previous years, and now they are really pissed.'
Elmer said many are being turned away after having passed previously.
'There are some inspection stations that don''t adhere to the tinting window limit laws,' he said. 'But the bigger problem we face is people paying off the inspection stations to pass their vehicles illegally.
The penalty for this is severe if the inspection station is caught.
'Thirty to 180 days of suspension or possibly a complete revoke of their ability to inspect,' Elmer said.
But the Highway Patrol is not waiting for the illegally tripped vehicles to drive into inspection stations. The Troopers are keeping their eyes open on highways and streets and Elmer said they can usually tell just by looking at your car if the windows are too tinted.
'We have tint meters that measure the light on cars that we have pulled over, but we can tell just by looking at the passing cars,' Elmer said.
The troopers will usually issue a 'fix-it' ticket, allowing the first time offender 14 days to fix the problem.
'They still have to go to court to contest the ticket if they have fixed the problem, and then the courts decide,' he said.
'People are buying their new cars and want the cool tinted windows to go with it,' said Josete Batty of an un-named car dealership. '65 percent of people that buy new cars here want or get the tinted windows.'
Although Runolfson said the tinted windows give the car a good look, he adds, 'I think it is just the trend, and like all trends they will come and they will go.'