ARE TINTED WINDOWS ILLEGAL IN GHANA

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Tinted windows look cool when you are cruising in the sun in your car driving by listening to some cool jazz, or whatever music you like. You’ve seen cars drive past with tinted windows in Accra and wondered, can I do this to my car too? The short answer is that you could, but, is it legal?

This is what we want to look into. First, we will look at:

WHY PEOPLE TINT THEIR CAR WINDOWS

Car owners who put tints in their car windows, usually do it for looks, privacy, and or security. For those who tint their windows for privacy, they may not like to be seen while driving their cars or they don’t want people looking into their vehicle, especially in traffic.

For security, they may have valuables in their car all the time and may not want them in plain view of other people. The reasons vary from person to person, but laws don’t vary, so let’s look at what the law has to say about this.

WHAT THE LAW SAY ABOUT TINTED CAR WINDOWS

According to the road traffic regulations acts 1974 (LI 953) sub-regulation 33 (3): “all glasses fitted to motor vehicles shall be maintained in such conditions that it does not obscure the vision of the driver…’’.

If we look at what this law states, the understanding we get is that you are not supposed to alter the condition of the glasses fitted on your car to the point where it obscures your vision.

The road traffic regulation act 2012 section 67 sub-regulations 3 and 4 says, “A person shall not drive a motor vehicle with a tinted windscreen…A person may drive a motor vehicle which has glass other than the windscreen ……… with light transmittance of at least seventy percent’’.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE LAW

Looking at these laws, technically, the first law permits drivers to install tints on their car windows and windscreen, as long as it is visible from the outside and does not obscure drivers’ vision.

However, law enforcement agencies, such as MTTD and DVLA, are against the use of a tinted front windscreen. Their reasons for being against it are that drivers with a tinted front windscreen are most times culprits of nefarious crimes, and their driving visions can become impaired by rainfall.

Although, they permit drivers to tint their side windows with a condition that it must be 70% transparent and visible for them to see if drivers are following the proper traffic regulations rules.

THE PENALTY FOR DEFAULTERS

For defaulters, sub-regulation 6 of regulation 67 of the road traffic regulation acts 2012 states that “a person who commits this offense is liable on summary conviction to a fine or imprisonment of not less than fifty days and not more than three months, or both’’.

As opposed to the rumored claim of a year of prison term.

Based on the above, we could draw a conclusion that tinted windscreens are illegal in Ghana. The stated 70% indicates that windows tint should allow 70% light into the car. A 5% tint means only 5% of light can penetrate the window. Meaning the tint is 95% dark, so anything below 70% light penetration would be illegal.

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