Tinted Side Windows in Michigan

[Si_Amigo]

In Michigan it is against the law to have any tint on your front door glass (except for a 4" strip along the top that looks totally nerdish) unless you have a note from your doctor stating that it is a medical necessity. I have such a note due to various valid medical conditions and carry it with me just in case I get stopped. But I had heard that they could put a resriction on your drivers license stating that it was OK to have this tint and that by doing so they couldn’t just randomly pull you over for tinted window violation.

Well I filled out the form and applied for the rider on the license and got a reply back from Lansing stating that I would have to be re-evaulated in person and have my doctor sign another form. No problem. The problem is that once I get the rider on my license I would never be allowed to drive another vehicle without window tint in the state of Michigan. (which btw is the only state with this stupid law).

My question is this: Is having the letter from your eye doctor alone enough to satisfy Michigan state law? Would getting the rider on my license really keep me from getting pulled over?

[MikeS]

@Si Amigo

Would getting the rider on my license really keep me from getting pulled over?

I don’t know anything about Michigan traffic law, but somehow I doubt it. How would Joe Patrolman, parked by the side of the highway, know that you had the rider on your license? Even if he took note of your plate number, and noted that the car in question was owned by someone who was allowed tinted windows, there still wouldn’t be a guarantee that it was you personally driving the car.

Or is the rider attached to the car rather than the license? That might work.

[Gary_T]

@Si Amigo

But I had heard that they could put a resriction on your drivers license stating that it was OK to have this tint and that by doing so they couldn’t just randomly pull you over for tinted window violation.

Am I missing something here? How is anything on a driver’s license going to prevent the vehicle from being pulled over?

[Si_Amigo]

This is what I’m wondering. What is the advantage of getting the rider on the license vs just having the note from a doctor? Are both equally legal? The rider on the license actually ties you into having to use tinted windows on any car you drive. I’m not certain if Michigan law has changed recently. To require the rider and neither is my eye doctor.

[Balthisar]

@Si Amigo

This is what I’m wondering. What is the advantage of getting the rider on the license vs just having the note from a doctor? Are both equally legal? The rider on the license actually ties you into having to use tinted windows on any car you drive. I’m not certain if Michigan law has changed recently. To require the rider and neither is my eye doctor.

The only relevant cite in state law I could find was this:

(e) A special window treatment or application determined necessary by a physician or optometrist, for the protection of a person who is light sensitive or photosensitive, if the owner or operator of a motor vehicle has in possession a letter signed by a physician or optometrist, indicating that the special window treatment or application is a medical necessity. However, the special window treatment or application shall not interfere with or obstruct the driver’s clear vision of the highway or an intersecting highway.

Additionally, the SecState website has a window tinting FAQ of sorts, and mentions only doctors notes, not drivers license endorsements. Plus, as stated above, that wouldn’t stop you from getting pulled over, but only save you from having to present the actual doctors note, if true.

I don’t know the current attitudes of the cops these days, or where you do most of your driving, but in previous cars with front tinted windows, I’d never been stopped for tinted windows. I was stopped for speeding a few times, and the tinted windows were never even mentioned as a topic of conversation. That’s not permission for you not to carry a doctors note, though; just general experience.