Iowa police warn of illegal tint on auto windows; excuses won’t fly

OELWEIN, IOWA – Police can, and will, pull you over for operating a vehicle with illegal tint, and this Northern Iowa police department is making it clear that your lame excuses won’t hold up during the traffic stop.

The Oelwein, Iowa police department is having so much difficulty with tinted windows on vehicles in their community that they offered a snarky yet pointed diatribe on this unlawful circumstance.

“Let’s clear something up… literally, the department started. “We’ve been seeing cars roll through town with windows so dark, we’re not sure if it’s a driver or a mannequin in there. We get it. Tinted windows look cool and keep you cool, however, Iowa law says we need to be able to see the driver. That means if your tint is darker than your last breakup playlist, you might just get pulled over. Your front driver and passenger windows can’t be tinted like they’re hiding state secrets. You can still tint the back windows like you’re protecting the formula for Coca-Cola back there. That’s fine. But up front? We need to see you.”

This is usually the point during a traffic stop that the owner or driver of the vehicle begins trying to offer completely irrelevant reasons for their malfeasance.

“And no, ‘but it looks cool’ is not a legal defense,” Oelwein police explained. “Neither is ‘I bought it that way.’ Neither is ‘my cousin said it was legal in Missouri.'”

“We love a good tint job,” police claimed, “just not the kind where we have to guess if there’s a human behind the wheel or a driverless Google Maps car. Because if we walk up and can’t tell whether you’re driving, sleeping, or playing a very aggressive game of hide and seek… we’re gonna have questions.”

The following advice was offered to drivers: “Keep the tint legal. Let us see your face. Your car windows shouldn’t be darker than a true crime podcast intro.”