Traffic cops have been sent out on special details to stop drivers of cars with tinted windows and ask to see their documentation.
Permits for tinted windows are available for people with serious skin conditions but many people decide to install them to increase comfort levels and reduce temperatures inside their vehicles. Others use tinted windows purely for privacy reasons.
Jalisco traffic law (article 176) states that a tinted window is considered illegal if the interior of the vehicle cannot be seen through it.
Traffic cops are issuing tickets for offenders that carry a fine of between 67.29 and 336.45 pesos (one and five days’ minimum salary). If in the officer’s opinion a vehicle’s tinted windows represent a risk to other motorists, it can be removed from circulation and sent to the pound.
The law in Jalisco differs to most other countries, and U.S. states, where sanctions are applied if the amount of light transmitted through the window is less than a pre-determined quantity.
Here, traffic agents make their decision based on a visual check alone.
Some motorists slapped with fines have been critical of the campaign, arguing that they purchased vehicles that already had tinted windows and were not aware they were illegal. Other have disputed traffic agents’ interpretation of the law.
Many of the officers assigned to the tinted window patrols are females who also participate in the nightly “drunk driving” operations that Semov says have helped reduce the number of accidents involving intoxicated drivers.
Permission to have tinted windows for medical reasons can be obtained from Semov, but only after a letter has first been issued by the Jalisco Institiute of Dermatology.
The permits are only granted for those with serious skin disorders or who, potentially, are at high risk of contracting skin cancer.
Although Jalisco law makes no special mention of tinted windows for public figures, most vehicles used to transport the state governor and his team of bodyguards are installed with heavily tinted windows.
Firms that install tinted windows say they cut out ultraviolet (UV) rays and can reduce the risk of contracting skin cancer and other associated skin diseases.
Information on how to make an application for legal tinted windows is available on the Semov website at www.semovjal.gob.mx.