Attorney Ben Schwartz answers the question: “Can I be Pulled Over for Window Tint In Delaware and Maryland?”

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, I’m attorney Ben Schwartz.

Today I want to answer a Facebook viewer question from Karen in Dover, Delaware. Karen’s question is:

“Is it true that cops cannot stop you solely for window tint if there is no other traffic violation? Is that an urban myth”? This is a question I’ve run across several times and I think that there’s a rumor out there that basically the cops cannot, or will not, pull you over solely to check the darkness of your window tint. I can’t tell you what police policies or procedures say, and if there is a police policy or procedure that says don’t pull people over just for a window tint, I don’t know about it…What I can tell you is that the law allows them to do it, unless there’s a state statute or case that says otherwise. Essentially it’s a Fourth Amendment issue. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. When the police pull someone over in a vehicle for a traffic violation, that stop is considered a seizure. Any stop has to basically be consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Which means it has to be reasonable. So, under the Fourth Amendment, as far as I’m aware, there’s no federal case saying that the police can’t stop you for window tint.

What it comes down to is, you’ve got to ask, where did the traffic stop occur? What state did it occur in? And what does that state law say about whether the police can stop a vehicle? Now, in the two states where I have a license to practice law are Maryland and Delaware. I can tell you that there is a case in Maryland. It’s out of the Maryland Court of Appeals called State Vs. Williams 934 A. 2nd 38. Essentially, what the court of appeals said in that 2007 case, is if an officer chooses to stop a car for a window tint violation and the officer can articulate how in his observation it’s likely that the window tint on that car violated this Maryland state statute, or the Maryland State standard for window tinting, then a court could uphold that stop as being constitutional.

I also practice law in Delaware. In Delaware, it’s not entirely clear whether a police officer can stop you, or not stop you, solely for a window tint violation. There are two cases out of the Delaware Superior Court, which is not the highest court in the state of Delaware. The first case is called State v. Coursey, 906 A.2d 845 (Del. Super. Ct.  2006). That’s a 2006 case where a police officer stopped a vehicle for window tint violation, or a suspected window tint violation & found drugs in the vehicle. Of course, the driver of the vehicle filed a motion, or his attorney filed a motion, to suppress the evidence based upon what they thought was a violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The court actually did throw out the evidence. The court did suppress the evidence because the police officer testified that he couldn’t see the occupants of the vehicle through the window tint; through the glass. He also acknowledged that that’s not the standard for whether a tint is too dark. So the court threw out the evidence on the basis of the police officer’s testimony.

The next year, the Superior Court issued a decision in another case called State Vs. Trower 931 A. 2nd 456. In that case, the defendant, the driver of the vehicle, was stopped again for a window tint violation. Again, after being stopped, the police found drugs in the car and arrested the driver. This time the superior court said that the stop was valid. It was o.k. to stop that car for that window tint violation. We’ve got different decisions, different opinions coming out of the Superior Court. I’m not aware of any Delaware Supreme Court case that resolves it one way or the other.

So, the answer in Delaware is, maybe you can be pulled over for window tint violation. Probably you can be constitutionally stopped, legally stopped, for a window tint violation. I’m not a hundred percent sure, because the Supreme Court of Delaware has never ruled on it. So, to answer the question, I think that it’s a very simple question with a very convoluted legal answer. Basically, what it comes down to is, that it depends upon the state you’re in, but probably they can stop you solely for a window tint violation.

Now, this raises the question, should you have tinting on your windows? My opinion is that, at least in, let’s say, Delaware, you can get a tint waiver if you have a medical condition that requires you to have tinting on the windows. You go to your optometrist or get to your family doctor and get them to fill out paperwork for the DMV. You get a tint waiver and that lets you have window tinting. That doesn’t stop you from being stopped by the police for your window tinting. My opinion is that I would not want to have my windows tinted in my car. I would not want to just give the police a reason to stop me. In other words, sometimes the police find someone to be suspicious. If I’m driving around, I’m not sure where I’m going, I’m checking MapQuest or Google maps on my phone. I’m driving slowly. I’m stopping frequently. That’s suspicious activity. A police officer watching me do that might say, “Maybe that guy’s looking for his connection to buy some drugs”! I don’t want to give the police a reason to stop me.

If I have my windows tinted, now they have a reason to stop me. Just on the basic principle, I would not get my windows tinted! I’m sure I’m going to get a bunch of hateful emails from window tinting companies now that I said that, but I personally wouldn’t do it. That’s my personal preference. It’s not legal advice. So Karen, hopefully, that answers your question. I hope that for those of you who are watching this video you found this interesting and informative.

Ben Schwartz is the Managing Partner of Schwartz & Schwartz, Attorneys at Law. If you are searching online for a personal injury attorney, or if you’ve been pulled over for window tint, please contact Ben about your case. Ben and the other attorneys in the firm represent people who have been injured in car accidents, tractor-trailer and bus accidents, motorcycle accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, and dog bites. We have offices in Havertown (suburban Philadelphia), PA, Wilmington, DE and Dover, Delaware.