FIDA Cameroon and other legal NGOs in the country have long been on a mission to empower citizens to know their rights and fight against their restrictions. The human rights goal is not just for westerners, or even everyone in their home countries, but the global citizens of the world. FIDA Cameroon is not alone in their quest, as they preach the message of knowing the rules, regulations, and laws that affect your everyday life.
Knowing what is both legal and illegal can be very complex. There are notable exceptions, like the story of Mr. Ross Olurunkoya and the police’s refusal to pay him damages when they wrongfully broke his car window because it was “illegal” for them to pay him. In reality, the laws weren’t on their side, but they thought they knew better. There is also the idea that people have to bend the law to encourage law-abiding. Of course, breaking the law is never a solution. But when the law is legally ambiguous, people will be more encouraged to break the law, either intentionally or unintentionally, because if they think the law is one thing but it is actually another, there is no way they could ever do the right thing.
The law is supposed to be something people can depend upon but when it is so obscure and variable around the world, then what good is it? So, with that in mind, let’s discuss Florida’s tint laws and what you, as a driver, should know about tint laws before you decide to tint your car. Florida is one of the many places in the world that has laws for vehicle tinting. Vehicle tinting is when a film or material is placed over the window glass of your vehicle. They are most often used to prevent excessive light from coming into the vehicle; however, there are a multitude of reasons why people might tint their windows. They might tint their windows to look cool, or they might tint their windows because their business needs them to tint windows at their home or their office. And while tinting windows is fine, tinting windows where it is illegal is not.
Florida’s laws are rather sensical. Their laws allow for 15% tint on the front windshield of passenger vehicles. Then, the tint must not extend beyond the AS-1 line as the top of the windshield. Additional tint is allowed below the AS-1 line on front side windows, and the tint must not be darker than 25%. For the back side windows, the state passed the law where any tint level is allowed on the sides.
The tinting laws also restrict how much tint can be applied to the rear windows of your vehicle. For example, the state allows for 15% tint on the rear windshields, and then any tint color is permissible, and any shade is permitted if the windshield is not tinted.
So, while the tinting laws seem to be specifically tailored to tinting on the vehicle windows, they are really in place to protect the safety of the drivers. You need to be able to see the cars beside you, in front of you, and behind you. If you want to tint your windows, you can tint them to the fullest extent, but not beyond what the government will allow.
Now, allowing the citizens of Florida, and everyone around the world, to tint their windows is fantastic. But what if tinting was allowed but never disclosed? What if there was a major issue with seeing clearly while driving, but you thought it was a problem with your windshield not being tinted properly? What if the tint laws said that you could tint the windows, and they required you to tint your windows to protect you from heatstroke? This would create a safety concern.
Businesses would then try to burn you by selling you the most expensive tint, and you might think it is fine because it would be the law, but in reality, it would be an infringement on your rights. So, while FIDA Cameroon may be on a mission to give the citizens of Cameroon new rights, the tinting laws of Florida, and many states, are in place to make sure the rights that you have are never violated. They might value the lives of everyone seeing all of the vehicles next to them, but it is in place for your rights, so you can work more effectively, and your autonomy, should you choose to tint your windows legally, is always under your control.