5 ms·

Would shining a flashlight have the same effect? Also, I don't like police overreach but I wouldn't think getting tinted windows gives you any legal right to p

Would shining a flashlight have the same effect? Also, I don't like police overreach but I wouldn't think getting tinted windows gives you any legal right to people not being able to see inside your car, just that it won't be easy for them to casually look over and see inside your car.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
duxup 3y ago
> I wouldn't think getting tinted windows gives you any legal right to people not being able to see inside your car Especially considering how much tint is allowed is often regulated by the state so that you can safely see out. The idea that you can see through it already is a thing.
- retrac 3y ago
  I always understood the limit on tinting to be bidirectional in its safety benefit. The driver needs to see, but the driver also needs to be seen. As a pedestrian, if I can't see the driver, I don't know if they can see me. I wonder how often drivers in heavily tinted vehicles gesture and don't realize they can't be seen?
  - duxup 3y ago
    I agree seeing another driver who isn’t paying attention approaching an intersection has saved me several times.
    - Izkata 3y ago
      And on the flipside if I reach an intersection at the same time as a driver, if they see me pause they'll sometimes wave me across. Happens maybe once every month or two.
  - FireBeyond 3y ago
    > I wonder how often drivers in heavily tinted vehicles gesture and don't realize they can't be seen? I have seen multiple vehicles so heavily tinted that their drivers have to roll down the window to turn at intersections at night...
gnfargbl 3y ago
The linked order addresses that point-- > The Supreme Court has foreclosed such an argument, holding that a police officer did not violate a driver’s reasonable expectation of privacy when he used a flashlight to look inside the windows of a car that was subject to a traffic stop. See Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 739-40 (1983).
ssalka 3y ago
If we're going by the "plain view doctrine", you can cover up any item in your car with e.g. a blanket, and an officer would not legally be able to move the blanket to see what's underneath without a warrant, probable cause to search, or permission from the vehicle owner (I'd add the caveat that seeing the shape of a gun underneath a blanket could probably pass for probable cause). So, moving that boundary from "the blanket" to "the window" to me seems pretty reasonable, except that a window tint doesn't completely obscure what's behind it like a blanket would. A tinted window fundamentally can't protect from plain view in the same way that non-transparent object can; the owner would be better off hanging curtains from inside the car.
- DropInIn 3y ago
  Or just using those window sun screens....
- agrover 3y ago
  time for the tinfoil!
- 1letterunixname 3y ago
  Or a Sony analog IR-peering camera that had an un/fortunate feature of looking through clothing. Is it "plain view" if using a camera that can see differently than humans can?

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

duxup 3y ago

> I wouldn't think getting tinted windows gives you any legal right to people not being able to see inside your car Especially considering how much tint is allowed is often regulated by the state so that you can safely see out. The idea that you can see through it already is a thing.

retrac 3y ago
I always understood the limit on tinting to be bidirectional in its safety benefit. The driver needs to see, but the driver also needs to be seen. As a pedestrian, if I can't see the driver, I don't know if they can see me. I wonder how often drivers in heavily tinted vehicles gesture and don't realize they can't be seen?
- duxup 3y ago
  I agree seeing another driver who isn’t paying attention approaching an intersection has saved me several times.
  - Izkata 3y ago
    And on the flipside if I reach an intersection at the same time as a driver, if they see me pause they'll sometimes wave me across. Happens maybe once every month or two.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  > I wonder how often drivers in heavily tinted vehicles gesture and don't realize they can't be seen? I have seen multiple vehicles so heavily tinted that their drivers have to roll down the window to turn at intersections at night...

gnfargbl 3y ago

The linked order addresses that point-- > The Supreme Court has foreclosed such an argument, holding that a police officer did not violate a driver’s reasonable expectation of privacy when he used a flashlight to look inside the windows of a car that was subject to a traffic stop. See Texas v. Brown, 460 U.S. 730, 739-40 (1983).

ssalka 3y ago

If we're going by the "plain view doctrine", you can cover up any item in your car with e.g. a blanket, and an officer would not legally be able to move the blanket to see what's underneath without a warrant, probable cause to search, or permission from the vehicle owner (I'd add the caveat that seeing the shape of a gun underneath a blanket could probably pass for probable cause). So, moving that boundary from "the blanket" to "the window" to me seems pretty reasonable, except that a window tint doesn't completely obscure what's behind it like a blanket would. A tinted window fundamentally can't protect from plain view in the same way that non-transparent object can; the owner would be better off hanging curtains from inside the car.

DropInIn 3y ago
Or just using those window sun screens....
agrover 3y ago
time for the tinfoil!
1letterunixname 3y ago
Or a Sony analog IR-peering camera that had an un/fortunate feature of looking through clothing. Is it "plain view" if using a camera that can see differently than humans can?