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Although PENNDOT included a Table X in the Inspection Regulations (find it here), they are aware that it is NOT an enforceable law that prohibits tint below 70%. The attorneys from PENNDOT and Dept. of Transportation confirm that it is only 'their interpretation of FMVSS205' that supposedly prohibits tint. No mention of Table X.
BUT THE POLICE SAY...
Many PA Police Officers think they know better than PENNDOT attorneys and falsely believe that Table X is actually a law that makes tint below 70% illegal in Pennsylvania.
If you read Table X, you'll see that it doesn't really 'prohibit' anything. It mentions 'acceptable' transmittances, but it doesn't even say 'what' such figures are 'acceptable' for? Nor is it referred to in the actual regulation, except to say that vehicles permitted by FMVSS205 are NOT subject to Table X. If the lawyers meant to say (i.e. were legally permitted to say..) that tint below 70% was actually illegal, they would have simply written 'Tint below 70% is prohibited, unacceptable, and illegal.' All the other Regulations are worded this way, (reject if headlight does not work, reject if glass is broken, etc).
Even if you accept the notion that we are prohibited from doing everything, unless there is a law that says that it is 'acceptable', and that somehow Table X really does prohibit tint below 70%, consider the following...
The Police are aware that Table X is contained within the Inspection Regulations that are meant for Inspection Stations only. However, they think that Inspections Stations just didn't want to be bothered enforcing the tint law, so they asked PENNDOT to let them illegally pass illegal vehicles so that the police could then stop and cite the vehicles as they drove out with valid Inspection Stickers. Really! This is what the police think!!
IT WOULD BE ILLEGAL FOR PENNDOT TO CERTIFY A VEHICLE THAT WAS ACTUALLY ILLEGAL
PA Statute Title 75 Chapter 47 4727b prohibits PENNDOT from certifying a vehicle that is not in "compliance with the provisions of this chapter including any regulations promulgated by the department."
Even if you accept the two ridiculous arguments above; (1) that Table X actually criminalizes transmittances under 70%, and (2) that PENNDOT has authorized Inspections Stations to break the law by passing illegal vehicles and letting the Police enforce Table X, then here's the final flaw in this ridiculous argument.
PENNDOT'S Vehicle Code TITLE 67 - 175.67 (d)(4) explicitly states that vehicles permitted by FMVSS205 are NOT SUBJECT to TABLE X.
So if it's permitted by FMVSS205, PENNDOT cannot use Table X to criminilize it, thus making vehicles from most of the other states unable to legally enter into Pennsylvania. PENNDOT knows that this would be illegal!