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PA Attorney General - Typo or Deliberate Deception?

UPDATE 1-3-03 I wrote to the Attorney General's office and pointed out the typo and he has corrected the page on his site. He added the quote to prove that the bullet item about '70%' is NOT really part of the STATUTE. He was not, however, able to provide citations for the text in the bullet items, which appear to have just been made up.
We also notified the Attorney General's office that there is no such thing as a "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Statute" (third bullet item). He probably means "Federal Motor Vehicle Safety STANDARD 205". Shouldn't the Attorney General know the difference between a Statute (a law passed by a legislature) and a Standard (a reference adopted by a private organization)?

The page has since been corrected.

Below you will see a copy of the page as it appeared on 12/24/02. The green text is indeed part of the PA STATUTE, however, note the missing quote after the paragraph which gives the false impression that the red paragraph is part of the Statute. IT IS NOT!

As a matter of fact, the phrase "must allow at least 70%" cannot be found anywhere in either ...

I wonder where the attorney general got that statement that he passes off as part of the PA Statute. One would hope the top legal authority in the State would be a little more careful about mixing legal citations with creative prose.
I wrote to the Attorney General explaining the error and he corrected it by adding the quote. Here is the corrected page and below is the way it looked before I told him about the error.

CONSUMER ADVISORY
by Attorney General Mike Fisher

Window Tinting

Are you considering tinting the windows of your new car to give it a sporty look or to cut down on glare from the sun? Before you go to your local window tint retailer know that Pennsylvania law regulates automobile window tint levels. With some exceptions, light transmittance through all vehicle windows must be greater than 70%. Any motorist who operates a vehicle with windows that do not conform to the Pennsylvania standards may be subject to a citation. Attorney General Mike Fisher wants to alert you that some businesses may try to defraud consumers by selling illegal window tint.

Pennsylvania’s Motor Vehicle statute states, “No person shall drive any motor vehicle with any sun screening device or other material which does not permit a person to see or view the inside of the vehicle through the windshield, side wing or side window of the vehicle.

  • Any side wing or any side window must allow at least 70% of transmitted light to pass through the window, or an amount of light greater than or equal to the window's light transmittance percentage at the time of manufacture.
  • The Pennsylvania Vehicle Code does not apply to vehicles with windows tinted by the manufacturer. Federal law regulates manufacturers.
  • The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Statute prohibits tinting of passenger vehicle windshields and front windows where light transmittance is reduced below 70%, just as in Pennsylvania.
Above Text is from Attorney General's Page 12/24/02.
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