Skip to content

Illegal tinted car windows in Niagara? Don't expect enforcement

You see them everywhere, but NRPS lays only two charges in 2023. Halton lays 751 since 2020
car-2797169_1280_2000
Stock photo

Alongside perhaps a sleeve tattoo or multiple body piercings, few things look as “badass” as tinted car windows.

But wait! Did you know that the Province of Ontario has some very specific rules around window tinting?

Consider this before you get work done on your automobile with dreams of cruising around this summer partially obscured from view:

While aft windows – backseat and rearview – are permitted to be as dark as possible, any vehicle produced after Jan. 1, 2017 cannot have any tinting at all on the front windshield. Additionally, front door windows cannot exceed 30 percent tinting. Police have been known to enforce this, too.

While Niagara Regional Police constable Jesse Vujasic told PelhamToday that only two window-tinting charges were laid on the peninsula in 2023, the Halton Regional Police issued a stunning 751 citations for excessive tinting between January 2020 and last month, according to BurlingtonToday.

The safety reasons for less or no tinting on front windows should be fairly obvious – eye contact is often a key factor in driving.

“You can’t make eye contact with someone who has tinted windows on the side,” thesafedriver.ca blogger Scott Marshall told BurlingtonToday. “They can’t see you wave go ahead, they can’t even tell if you’re looking at them. This is extremely difficult for pedestrians and cyclists.”

While Niagara police have not reached the tint-busting levels of their Halton cohorts, Vujasic did say that the NRPS has produced a larger crackdown on noisemakers and pollutants – issuing 108 muffler charges last year.

 


Reader Feedback

John Chick

About the Author: John Chick

John Chick has worked in and out of media for some 20 years, including stints with The Score, CBC, and the Toronto Sun. He covers Pelham Town Council and occasional other items for PelhamToday, and splits his time between Fonthill and Toronto
Read more